title: A meta-analysis of cognitive performance in melancholic versus non-melancholic unipolar depression.
abstract: Recently there is increasing recognition of cognitive dysfunction as a core feature of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). The goal of the current meta-analysis was to review and examine in detail the specific features of cognitive dysfunction in Melancholic (MEL) versus Non-Melancholic (NMEL) MDD.
  
  
  
  An electronic literature search was performed to find studies comparing cognitive performance in MEL versus NMEL. A meta-analysis of broad cognitive domains (processing speed, reasoning/problem solving, verbal learning, visual learning, attention/working memory) was conducted on all included studies (n=9). Sensitivity and meta-regression analyses were also conducted to detect possible effects of moderator variables (age, gender, education, symptom severity and presence of treatments).
  
  
  
  MEL patients were older and more severly depressed than NMEL subjects. The MEL group was characterized by a worse cognitive performance in attention/working memory (ES=-0.31), visual learning (ES=-0.35) and reasoning/problem solving (ES=-0.46). No difference was detected in drug-free patients by sensitivity analyses. No effect was found for any of our moderators on the cognitive performance in MEL vs NMEL.
  
  
  
  Our findings seem to support a moderate but specific effect of melancholic features in affecting the cognitive performance of MDD, in particular as regards visual learning and executive functions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and Neuro-Motor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy; Deparment of Mental Health, Local Health Unit 16 - ULSS 16, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zaninotto
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; Deparment of Mental Health, Local Health Unit 17 - ULSS 17, Monselice PD, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Solmi
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Geriatric Section, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Veronese
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatrics, Neuroscience and Orthopedics, Catholic University Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guglielmo
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatrics, Neuroscience and Orthopedics, Catholic University Rome, Italy; Department of Human Sciences, Lumsa University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ioime
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatrics, Neuroscience and Orthopedics, Catholic University Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Camardese
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and Neuro-Motor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy. Electronic address: alessandro.serretti@unibo.it.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Serretti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests
keywords: Cognitive; Depressive disorder; Major depression; Melancholic; Neuropsychology