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Experiences of cognitive problems such as memory loss or difficulty concentrating, known as ‘brain fog’, may not predict relapse in depression according to a new study that has confounded researchers’ expectations.
In a new paper in the BMJ Mental Health, a research team led by Dr Angharad de Cates from the University of Birmingham and honorary member of the Department of Psychiatry at Oxford, along with researchers from the University of Oxford, studied data from 1,800 UK participants who had previously had an episode of depression. Participants were matched for age and sex with a control; and recruited as part of the UK Biobank. The study was funded by the Guarantors of Brain and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) through the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre: Oxford Health.
The research team tested the idea that decline in some elements of cognition such as memory and attention, which affect between 70-90% of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), might be associated with a greater risk of relapse. With 40% of MDD patients having persistent cognitive impairment, the team looked to see whether cognitive decline could, therefore, help clinicians predict who is more likely to have further depressive episodes.
Participants were invited to take part in a series of cognitive tests and have structural and functional MRI imaging to look at whether there were any structural changes to their brains. Tests include a snap-card game to test reaction times, a numerical memory game, a word-pairing game and others. These tests looked at different areas of cognitive performance. The researchers also pooled data across the battery of tasks to generate a measure of general cognitive functioning.