The neuropsychological profile in unipolar depression
Abstract
There is a wealth of empirical data pertaining to the issue of neuropsychological impairment in depression. However, a coherent and comprehensive framework for understanding the disorder remains elusive. This review will briefly consider some of the important issues on which recent research has focused. It would be premature to derive firm conclusions in an area characterized by considerable confusion, so the aim of this review is to highlight the key areas that must be addressed. Three distinct questions are considered. The first concerns the neuropsychological specificity of the deficits associated with depression; whether they represent selective deficits or a more general profile of impairment. The second question is to determine how cognitive deficits might relate to clinical and demographic factors, including symptom severity, hospitalization, medication and ageing. Finally, a comprehensive theory of depression must also relate impairments to neuropathology, and evidence is now available from imaging studies that have attempted to elucidate neural substrates of neuropsychological deficits.
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Mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and stress have all been linked to a variety of executive functioning problems.
“Furthermore, mental health problems such as depression (Diamond 2013; Elliott 1998), anxiety (Visu‐Petra, Miclea, and Visu‐Petra 2013), and stress (Diamond 2013; Liston, McEwen, and Casey 2009) have all been linked to a variety of executive functioning problems.”
From Human Capital and Administrative Burden: The Role of Cognitive Resources in Citizen‐State Interactions (2020) · cites this paper as Elliott 1998
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- Authors
- Elliott, R.
- Affiliations
- National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Elliott, Rebecca
- ORCID
- Elliott, Rebecca
- Venue
- Trends in Cognitive Sciences
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 1998-11
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 447-454
- ISSN
- 1364-6613 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2050579590
- Cited by
- 176
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 11
- FWCI
- 0.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Trends in Cognitive Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Keywords
- major depressive disorder, neuropsychological deficits, cognitive impairment, symptom severity, hospitalization, antidepressants, aging, neuropathology, image studies
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