title: Executive function improvement upon remission of recurrent unipolar depression.
abstract: The aim of the study was to investigate the improvement of executive function measures upon recovery from unipolar depression. Thirty patients who suffered from recurrent major unipolar depression were retested with regard to their executive function approximately two years after an initial baseline examination. At baseline, patients were depressed (average 17-item HAM-D score 21.8), at retesting they were partially or totally recovered (average HAM-D score 8.2). There was a significant positive association between improvement on the HAM-D and improvement of executive function. In those with complete recovery, overall executive function and most examined executive function measures were no longer different from the baseline performance of healthy controls (with the possible exception of semantic fluency and Stroop Colour-word). In conclusion, recovery from major unipolar depression was accompanied by a recovery of many aspects of executive function to a normal level. Our findings support previous studies that have shown that neuropsychological impairment associated with long-standing depressive symptomatology is reversible (i. e. state-related) in recurrent unipolar depression.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Medicine, Section of Psychiatry, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway. eva.biringer@psyk.uib.no
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Biringer
authors.forename: Astri
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lundervold
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stordal
authors.forename: Arnstein
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mykletun
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Egeland
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bottlender
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lund
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D004493:Education; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012008:Recurrence