Selective memory and memory deficits in depressed inpatients.
We investigated memory impairment and mood-congruent memory bias in depression, using an explicit memory test and an implicit one. Thirty-six severely depressed inpatients that fulfilled DSM-IV criteria for major depressive disorder and 36 healthy controls matched for sex, age, and educational level participated in the study. Explicit memory was assessed with a free recall task and implicit memory with an anagram solution task. Results showed that depressed and controls differed in explicit memory performance, depending on the amount of cognitive distraction between incidental learning and testing. Implicit memory was not affected. In addition, severely depressed patients showed a mood-congruent memory bias in implicit memory but not in explicit memory. The complex pattern of results is discussed with regard to relevant theories of depression.
Ellwart
Thomas
T
Department of General Psychology, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany. Ellwart@psychologie.tu-dresden.de
Rinck
Mike
M
Becker
Eni S
ES
D000328:Adult; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011897:Random Allocation; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014825:Vocabulary