Neurocognitive function in an extended Afrikaner-ancestry family with affective illness.
OBJECTIVE
To characterize the neuropsychological profile of an extended family with unipolar depression (UPD) and other forms of affective illness.


METHODS
We administered a battery of neuropsychological tasks measuring various aspects of executive function and visual and verbal memory to 49 individuals in 1 extended family. Six participants had 1 lifetime episode of major depression (MDE-S), 15 were diagnosed with recurrent major depression (MDE-R), 11 had another DSM-IV diagnosis and 17 subjects were unaffected.


RESULTS
After controlling for multiple confounding factors, including mood and medication, the MDE-R sample made significantly more errors than unaffected relatives on the Stroop Task, a measure of cognitive control.


CONCLUSIONS
There may be at least 1 subtype of UPD characterized by a state-independent deficit in cognitive control.
Savitz
Jonathan
J
Division of Human Genetics, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, South Africa. savitzj@mail.nih.gov
van der Merwe
Lize
L
Solms
Mark
M
Ramesar
Rajkumar
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D003118:Color Perception; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010641:Phenotype; D011340:Problem Solving; D012008:Recurrence; D012660:Semantics; D013019:South Africa