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Psychomotor symptoms of depression
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The authors summarize current knowledge regarding the psychomotor symptoms of depression. METHOD: Findings from the objective quantification of psychomotor symptoms are reviewed, and methodological issues are considered. The contemporary empirical literature regarding the diagnostic, prognostic, and potential pathophysiologic significance of psychomotor symptoms is summarized. RESULTS: It has been repeatedly shown that depressed patients differ from normal and psychiatric comparison groups with regard to objectively quantified gross motor activity, body movements, speech, and motor reaction time. Course of illness, diurnal variation, medication status, sex, and age are associated with agitation and retardation and should be controlled when one is studying psychomotor symptoms. Psychomotor symptoms in depression may have unique significance. They have high discriminative validity, may be the only symptoms of depression that distinguish depression subtypes, and are predictive of good response to tricyclic antidepressants. Results of brain imaging and biochemical studies link depression and motor symptoms to abnormalities in the basal ganglia and basal ganglia/thalamo-cortical circuits. CONCLUSIONS: The investigation of psychomotor disturbance in depression is specifically consistent with neo-Kraepelinian standards for the study of psychiatric disorders. Our current knowledge of psychomotor symptoms is conceptually obscure, yet a large body of evidence specifies their manifestation and supports their significance. Identifying the incidence of abnormal motor behaviors in depressed patients and assessing the component processes that accompany and determine their manifestation may be important advances in the study of psychomotor symptoms in depression.
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“generalized psychomotor slowing [4, 5] can also impact performance across several cognitive processes and domains.”
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Alexopoulos, G. S. (2005) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(05)66665-2 · Cited by 2,024
Discovering Endophenotypes for Major Depression
Hasler, G., Drevets, W. C., Manji, H. K., & Charney, D. S. (2004) · Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1038/sj.npp.1300506 · Cited by 1,123
“Psychomotor retardation and agitation are included in the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria of major depression and have been shown to reliably differentiate depressed patients from psychiatric and normal comparison groups (Sobin and Sackeim, 1997).”
BackgroundA review of depression and suicide risk assessment using speech analysis
Cummins, N., Scherer, S. J., Krajewski, J., Schnieder, S., Epps, J., & Quatieri, T. F. (2015) · Speech Communication · doi:10.1016/j.specom.2015.03.004 · Cited by 1,051
“Clinicians often (subjectively) use the verbal behaviour of a patient during diagnosis; decreased verbal activity productivity, a diminished prosody and monotonous and “lifeless” sounding speech is indicative of depression (Hall et al., 1995; Sobin and Sackeim, 1997).”
BackgroundLate-Life Depression, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Dementia: Possible Continuum?
Panza, F., Frisardi, V., Capurso, C. A., D’Introno, A., Colacicco, A. M., Imbimbo, B. P., Santamato, A., Vendemiale, G., Seripa, D., Pilotto, A., et al. (2010) · American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry · doi:10.1097/jgp.0b013e3181b0fa13 · Cited by 633
Social skills deficits associated with depression
Segrin, C. G. (2000) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/s0272-7358(98)00104-4 · Cited by 594
Metadata
- Authors
- Sobin, C. A., & Sackeïm, H. A.
- Affiliations
- Columbia University (US)
- Venue
- American Journal of Psychiatry
- Published
- 1997-01-01
- Volume
- 154
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 4-17
- ISSN
- 0002-953X (ISSN-L)
- 1535-7228
- OpenAlex
- W160287770
- Cited by
- 662
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 20 · 2025: 30 · 2024: 26 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 39 · 2020: 34 · 2019: 29 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 25 · 2015: 28 · 2014: 27 · 2013: 36 · 2012: 32
- FWCI
- 12.67
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- scholarworks - UTEP (The University of Texas at El Paso) (submittedVersion)
- American Journal of Psychiatry
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5r01mh047739-02)
- National Institute of Mental Health (MH-47739, MH35636)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology (medical) › Treatment of Major Depression
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Clinical Neurology › Deep Brain Stimulation and Movement Disorders
- Keywords
- psychomotor symptoms, depression, agitation, retardation, motor reaction time, speech, gross motor activity, diurnal variation, depression subtypes, basal ganglia, thalamocortical circuits, depression pathophysiology
- MeSH terms
- Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic, Circadian Rhythm, Depressive Disorder, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Motor Activity, Prognosis, Psychomotor Agitation, Psychomotor Disorders, Reaction Time, Speech, Incidence, Treatment Outcome
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