title: Time course of prefrontal lobe dysfunction in severely depressed in-patients: a longitudinal neuropsychological study.
abstract: The Stroop Colour-Word Test (SCWT) and the Verbal Fluency Test (VFT), two tests that have been suggested to be particularly sensitive to prefrontal dysfunction, were administered to 23 severely depressed in-patients. Both tests were impaired in patients at inclusion, but only verbal fluency normalized with successful treatment of depression. VFT impairment is consistent with the hypothesis of a left prefrontal cortex dysfunction in depression. Moreover, the persistence of an impaired performance on SCWT in patients at discharge suggests that a selective attention deficit may persist in patients beyond a clear clinical improvement.
authors.affiliation: Hôpital de Bicêtre, Service de Psychiatrie, France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Trichard
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Martinot
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alagille
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Masure
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hardy
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ginestet
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Féline
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000502:physiology; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D019965:Neurocognitive Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D010552:Personality Assessment; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D012660:Semantics; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D014888:Wechsler Scales