memory and depression tute 1

Question 1

Types of Depression

Answer 1

-Reactive
-Major Depressive Disorder / Major
Depressive Episode
-Persistent Depressive Disorder
-Bipolar Disorder

Question 2

signs/symptoms

Answer 2

• Lowered Mood
• Behavioural Changes
• Sleeping less/more
• Eating less/more
• Increased lethargy
• Psychomotor retardation

Question 3

Epidemiology

Answer 3

-Approximately 15% -20% of individuals 
will suffer from depression at some point 
in their lifetime
-Depression is best treated with a 
combination of pharmacological and non
-pharmacological treatment

Question 4

Cognitive Effects of Depression

Answer 4

-Cognition is usually normal, or near normal
-Some depressed individuals experience
genuine cognitive difficulties Information processing speed
-Memory
-Attention
-Reasoning

Question 5

Depression Related Dementia (DRD)

Answer 5

-Typically occurs in elderly patients
Can be misdiagnosed as Alzheimer’s disease or other age-related diseases
-Characterised by:
Withdrawal of interest
Psychomotor retardation
Laboured thinking
Impaired cognition

Question 6

The memory symptoms of DRD

Answer 6

-Information processing speed
Slowed Attention
Poor sustained attention
Preoccupied with depressive themes
Reasoning
Impaired working memory

Question 7

DRD symptoms continued

Answer 7

-Anterograde memory
Impaired new learning with very flattened learning curve
Impaired delayed recall
Recognition memory is relatively intact
-Retrograde memory
Impairments can occur
Can experience temporal confusion

Question 8

DRD vs. other memory disorders:

Brain Areas Responsible

Answer 8

-Memory impairments not suggestive of temporal lobe dysfunction
-More consistent with:
Reduced encoding due to attention deficits
Impaired retrieval due to frontal lobe
dysfunction

Question 9

neuroimaging in DRD

Answer 9

-No structural changes
evident
-Functional imaging reveals some changes
Generalised reduction in function
Often particular reduction in frontal lobe and cingulate
regions
Often see functional reduction in subcortical region

Question 10

DRD Recovery

Answer 10

-Cognition improves with successful treatment of depression
-Traditionally considered full recovery would occur
-Emerging evidence that neurotransmitter
‘imbalances’ in chronic depression might cause permanent changes to underlying neural structures
?Permanent mild memory difficulties