Cognitive functioning in depression.

Overview

Verbal learning and memory, and recognition of famous faces, were assessed in 21 non-demented inpatients with RDC endogenous depression. Severity of depression was related to attention span, and patient age was related to measures of learning and recall. However, even in this severely depressed sample, verbal learning/memory measures were not below normative values. Facial recognition was significantly impaired relative to test norms. The results suggest that mild impairment in the early stages of verbal information encoding, and more marked impairment in the recognition of famous faces, may be associated with depression. These impairments differ from the cognitive changes associated with aging.