Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T06:03:01.609Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The association between depressive and cognitive symptoms in amnestic mild cognitive impairment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2008

Carol Hudon ,
Sylvie Belleville  and
Serge Gauthier
Carol Hudon*
Affiliation:
École de psychologie, Université Laval, Québec, Canada Centre de recherche Université Laval Robert-Giffard, Québec, Canada
Sylvie Belleville
Affiliation:
Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada Centre de recherche en neuropsychologie et cognition, Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada
Serge Gauthier
Affiliation:
McGill Center for Studies in Aging, Montréal, Québec, Canada
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Dr. Carol Hudon, Centre de recherche Université Laval Robert-Giffard, 2601, ch. de la Canardière F-4500, Québec, QC, Canada, G1J 2G3. Phone: +1 418 663 5741; Fax: +1 418 663 9540. Email: carol.hudon@psy.ulaval.ca.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background: Depressive symptoms are frequently observed in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, little is known regarding the cognitive characteristics of this important subgroup.

Methods: We examined executive functions (controlled inhibition) and verbal episodic memory in 33 healthy older adults (control group), 18 older adults with amnestic MCI plus subclinical depressive symptoms (a-MCI/D+ group), and 26 older adults with amnestic MCI but no depressive symptoms (a-MCI group).

Results: Compared to the a-MCI and control groups, patients with a-MCI/D+ showed poor controlled inhibition. Moreover, in verbal episodic memory these patients recalled fewer words than control participants on immediate free, delayed free, and delayed total (free plus cued) recall. Performance on immediate recall suggested a self-retrieval deficit, but delayed performance also revealed the existence of an encoding impairment. In the a-MCI group, participants exhibited normal performance on the executive task, but pervasive memory impairment; the memory deficit concerned free and total recall on both immediate and delayed tasks, suggesting the existence of encoding and self-retrieval disturbances.

Conclusions: This study reveals differences between the pattern of cognitive impairment for a-MCI/D+ and a-MCI subgroups particularly at the level of executive capacities. In terms of memory functioning, the differences between the subgroups were more subtle; more studies are needed in order to better characterize the memory impairment of a-MCI/D+ and a-MCI patients.

Keywords

mild cognitive impairmentdepressive symptomsAlzheimer's diseaseexecutive functionsepisodic memoryneuropsychologyneuropsychiatry
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 20 , Issue 4 , August 2008 , pp. 710 - 723
Copyright
© International Psychogeriatric Association 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.Google Scholar
Baudic, S., Tzortzis, C., Barba, G. D. and Traykov, L. (2004). Executive deficits in elderly patients with major unipolar depression. Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology, 17, 195–201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Belleville, S., Rouleau, N. and van der Linden, M. (2006). Use of the Hayling task to measure inhibition of prepotent responses in normal aging and Alzheimer's disease. Brain and Cognition, 62, 113–119.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Benton, A. L., Hamsher, K. D., Varney, N. R. and Spreen, O. (1983). Contributions to Neuropsychological Assessment: Tests. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Butters, M. A. et al. (2004). The nature and determinants of neuropsychological functioning in late-life depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 61, 587–595.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, P. et al. (2000). Cognitive tests that best discriminate between presymptomatic AD and those who remain nondemented. Neurology, 55, 1847–1853.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Copeland, M. P. et al. (2003). Psychiatric symptomatology and prodromal Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders, 17, 1–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dierckx, E., Engelborghs, S., De Raedt, R., De Deyn, P. P. and Ponjaert-Kristoffersen, I. (2007)a. Differentiation between mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease and depression by means of cued recall. Psychological Medicine, 37, 747–755.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dierckx, E., Engelborghs, S., De Raedt, R., De Deyn, P. P. and Ponjaert-Kristoffersen, I. (2007)b. Mild cognitive impairment: what's in a name? Gerontology, 53, 28–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feldman, H. et al. (2004). Behavioral symptoms in mild cognitive impairment. Neurology, 62, 1199–1201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gauthier, S. and Touchon, J. (2005). Mild cognitive impairment is not a clinical entity and should not be treated. Archives of Neurology, 62, 1164–1166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gauthier, S. et al. (2006). Mild cognitive impairment. Lancet, 367, 1262–1270.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Geda, Y. E. et al. (2006). Depression, apolipoprotein E genotype, and the incidence of mild cognitive impairment: a prospective cohort study. Archives of Neurology, 63, 435–440.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hachinski, V. C. et al. (1975). Cerebral blood flow in dementia. Archives of Neurology, 32, 632–637.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hébert, R., Guilbault, J., Desrosiers, J. and Dubuc, N. (2001). The Functional Autonomy Measurement System (SMAF): a clinical-based instrument for measuring disabilities and handicaps in older people. Geriatrics Today: Journal of the Canadian Geriatrics Society, 4, 141–147.Google Scholar
Holthausen, E. A., Wiersma, D., Knegtering, R. H. and Van Den Bosch, R. J. (1999). Psychopathology and cognition in schizophrenia spectrum disorders: the role of depressive symptoms. Schizophrenia Research, 39, 65–71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hoyl, M. T. et al. (1999). Development and testing of a five-item version of the Geriatric Depression Scale. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 47, 873–878.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ivanoiu, A. et al. (2005). Memory evaluation with a new cued recall test in patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. Journal of Neurology, 252, 47–55.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kaplan, E. F., Goodglass, H. and Weintraub, S. (1983). The Boston Naming Test. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger.Google Scholar
Kindermann, S. S. and Brown, G. G. (1997). Depression and memory in the elderly: a meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 19, 625–642.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kohler, C., Gur, R. C., Swanson, C. L., Petty, R. and Gur, R. E. (1998). Depression in schizophrenia: I. Association with neuropsychological deficits. Biological Psychiatry, 43, 165–172.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kramer, J. H. et al. (2006). Multiple cognitive deficits in amnestic mild cognitive impairment. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 22, 306–311.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kuzis, G., Sabe, L., Tiberti, C., Leiguarda, R. and Starkstein, S. E. (1997). Cognitive functions in major depression and Parkinson disease. Archives of Neurology, 54, 982–986.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mattis, S. (1976). Mental status examination for organic mental syndrome in the elderly patient. In Bellack, L. and Karasu, T. (eds.) Geriatric Psychiatry (pp. 71–121). New York: Grune & Stratton.Google Scholar
Modrego, P. J. and Ferrandez, J. (2004). Depression in patients with mild cognitive impairment increases the risk of developing dementia of Alzheimer type: a prospective cohort study. Archives of Neurology, 61, 1290–1293.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Brien, J. T., Lloyd, A., McKeith, I., Gholkar, A. and Ferrier, N. (2004). A longitudinal study of hippocampal volume, cortisol levels, and cognition in older depressed subjects. American Journal of Psychiatry, 161, 2081–2090.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Palmer, K. et al. (2007). Predictors of progression from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer disease. Neurology, 68, 1596–1602.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Petersen, R. C. (2004). Mild cognitive impairment as a diagnostic entity. Journal of Internal Medecine, 256, 183–194.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Petersen, R. C. et al. (1997). Aging, memory, and mild cognitive impairment. International Psychogeriatrics, 9 (Suppl. 1), 65–69.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ready, R. E., Ott, B. R., Grace, J. and Cahn-Weiner, D. A. (2003). Apathy and executive dysfunction in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer disease. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 11, 222–228.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Regard, M. (1981). Cognitive rigidity and flexibility: a neuropsychological study. Unpubl. Ph.D. dissertation. Victoria: University of Victoria, Canada.Google Scholar
Rey, A. (1960). Test de la Figure complexe de Rey. Paris: Les Éditions du Centre de Psychologie Appliquée.Google Scholar
Robert, P. H. et al. (2006). Neuropsychological performance in mild cognitive impairment with and without apathy. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 21, 192–197.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sapolsky, R. M. (2001). Depression, antidepressants, and the shrinking hippocampus. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 98, 12320–12322.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sheline, Y. I. et al. (2006). Cognitive function in late life depression: relationships to depression severity, cerebrovascular risk factors and processing speed. Biological Psychiatry, 60, 58–65.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Signoret, J. L. (1991). Batterie d'Efficience Mnésique: BEM 144. Paris: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Steffens, D. C. et al. (2006). Perspectives on depression, mild cognitive impairment, and cognitive decline. Archives of General Psychiatry, 63, 130–138.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van der Linden, M. et al. (2004). L'épreuve de rappel libre/rappel indicé à 16 items (RL/RI-16). In: Van der Linden, M. et al. (eds.), L'évaluation des troubles de la mémoire: présentation de quatre tests de mémoire épisodique (avec leur étalonnage) (pp. 25–47). Marseille: Solal.Google Scholar
Villeneuve, S., Belleville, S., Lacombe, J. and Gauthier, S. (2007). The contribution of vascular burden in persons with mild cognitive impairment. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 13 (Suppl. 2), 135.Google Scholar
Wechsler, D. (1997). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar