title: Neurocognitive Changes in Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors-Treated Adolescents with Depression.
abstract: Adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD) were found to have deficits in executive function, attention, and memory. Despite the fact that some neurocognitive functions have been shown to be present in acute stage of the illness, but not in remission, longitudinal studies are lacking. The current study aimed to investigate the changes in neurocognitive functioning in adolescents with depression during an acute treatment course with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor.
  
  
  
  Twenty-four adolescents with current MDD and 24 healthy controls (HCs) were administered subtests of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery as well as clinical scales at baseline and were retested at weeks 6 and 12. Those with MDD were started on fluoxetine after the baseline assessment.
  
  
  
  Despite considerable improvement in depressive symptoms in the MDD group, there was a persistent deficit in visual memory in the MDD group over time compared with HCs (p = 0.001). On a task of sustained attention and inhibition, HCs became better at detecting target sequences at week 12 while there were residual sustained attention deficits in MDD (p = 0.01). On an executive function (planning) task, while HCs learned the task and improved substantially in performance over 12 weeks, MDD performance did not significantly change (p = 0.04).
  
  
  
  When treating depressed adolescents, clinicians need to also monitor cognitive symptoms as they appear to lag behind mood symptoms in improvement.
authors.affiliation: 1 The Graduate Center, Queens College, City University of New York , New York, New York.
authors.forename: Al Amira Safa
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Shehab
authors.affiliation: 2 Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brent
authors.affiliation: 3 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Program, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut , Beirut, Lebanon .
authors.forename: Fadi T
authors.initials: FT
authors.lastname: Maalouf
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D056344:Executive Function / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D005473:Fluoxetine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D005473:Fluoxetine; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors
keywords: adolescents; executive function; major depressive disorder; selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor; sustained attention; visual memory