Depresión en la demencia tipo Alzheimer: ¿existe algún efecto sobre la memoria? / Depression in Alzheimer type-dementia: Is there any efect on memory performance?

Introducción. La depresión es uno de los trastornos neuropsiquiátricos más frecuentes en la enfermedad de Alzheimer (EA). Objetivo. Analizar si la depresión incrementa el deterioro cognitivo de la memoria verbal y no verbal en pacientes con EA temprana. Sujetos y métodos. El estudio comparó el rendimiento de 23 pacientes diagnosticados de EA con y sin depresión, 15 pacientes con depresión mayor unipolar (D) y 20 sujetos control sanos (SC) en tareas de memoria (recuerdo y reconocimiento) para palabras, dibujos sin sentido y posición. El grupo con EA fue estratificado, por la presencia o ausencia de depresión, en dos grupos bien equiparados en cuanto a las características clínicas y sociodemográficas. Resultados. Los pacientes con EA rindieron significativamente peor que los grupos SC y D en las medidas de memoria verbal. Sin embargo, la única medida de memoria no verbal que discriminó entre los pacientes con EA y el grupo D fue el reconocimiento. Los grupos de EA (con y sin depresión) no mostraron diferencias significativas en ninguna de las medidas de memoria estudiadas. Conclusiones. La depresión está asociada con un deterioro significativo de la memoria en pacientes sin demencia. La presencia de la depresión no agrava el deterioro de la memoria en pacientes con EA (AU)

Introduction. Depression is one of the most common neuropsyquiatric disorders in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Aim. To evaluate whether depression exacerbates verbal and non-verbal memory impairment in early AD patients. Subjects and methods. The study compared the performance of 23 patients who received a diagnosis of AD, with or without depression, 15 patients with unipolar major depression (UD) and 20 healthy control subjects (HS) on memory tasks (recall and recognition) for words, abstract designs and position. AD patients were stratified into two groups, according to the presence or absence of depression, well matched on clinical and sociodemographic characteristics. Results. Patients with AD scored significantly lower than HS and UD groups on verbal memory measures. However, the recognition was the only non-verbal memory measure that discriminated significantly between AD and UD groups. The AD groups (with or without depression) did not show any significant differences on memory performance. Conclusions. Depression is associated with significant memory impairment in non-demented patients. The presence of depression did not increase memory impairment in AD patients (AU)

[Depression in Alzheimer type-dementia: is there any effect on memory performance]. / Depresión en la demencia tipo Alzheimer: existe algún efecto sobre la memoria?

INTRODUCTION: Depression is one of the most common neuropsychiatric disorders in Alzheimer's disease (AD). AIM: To evaluate whether depression exacerbates verbal and non-verbal memory impairment in early AD patients. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study compared the performance of 23 patients who received a diagnosis of AD, with or without depression, 15 patients with unipolar major depression (UD) and 20 healthy control subjects (HS) on memory tasks (recall and recognition) for words, abstract designs and position. AD patients were stratified into two groups, according to the presence or absence of depression, well matched on clinical and sociodemographic characteristics. RESULTS: Patients with AD scored significantly lower than HS and UD groups on verbal memory measures. However, the recognition was the only non-verbal memory measure that discriminated significantly between AD and UD groups. The AD groups (with or without depression) did not show any significant differences on memory performance. CONCLUSIONS: Depression is associated with significant memory impairment in non-demented patients. The presence of depression did not increase memory impairment in AD patients.