The available evidence suggests the early changes in cognition may predict treatment response in individuals with MDD .
The results depict an emerging trend towards early changes in facial emotion recognition ( i.e. , a hot cognitive process ) as a predictor of treatment outcome .
Conclusion : The identification of reliable early treatment predictors of antidepressant response would be clinical ly significant , enabling clinicians to more accurately evaluate the efficacy of selected treatment avenues .
HIGHLIGHTSCognitive dysfunction is a principal feature and determinant of health outcome in MDD.Cognitive changes have shown to occur prior to improvements in mood symptoms .
Early changes in emotional processing may predict treatment response in MDD
Background : Despite the widespread use of antidepressants in clinical practice , the current trial‐ and ‐error approach to medication selection contributes to treatment failure and underscores the need to identify reliable predictors of antidepressant response .
Since changes in measures of cognition have been reported to occur early in treatment and prior to improvements in overall mood symptoms , the present review aims to determine whether early changes in measures of cognition can predict response in individuals with MDD .
Effect of acute antidepressant administration on negative affective bias in depressed patients.
OBJECTIVE Acute administration of an antidepressant increases positive affective processing in healthy volunteers , an effect that may be relevant to the therapeutic actions of these medications . The authors investigated whether this effect is apparent in depressed patients early in treatment , prior to changes in mood and symptoms . METHOD In a double-blind , placebo-controlled , between-groups r and omized design , the authors examined the effect of a single 4-mg dose of the norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor reboxetine on emotional processing . Thirty-three depressed patients were recruited through primary care clinics and the community and matched to 31 healthy comparison subjects . Three hours after dosing , participants were given a battery of emotional processing tasks comprising facial expression recognition , emotional categorization , and memory . Ratings of mood , anxiety , and side effects were also obtained before and after treatment . RESULTS Depressed patients who received placebo showed reduced recognition of positive facial expressions , decreased speed in responding to positive self-relevant personality adjectives , and reduced memory for this positive information compared to healthy volunteers receiving placebo . However , this effect was reversed in patients who received a single dose of reboxetine , despite the absence of changes in subjective ratings of mood or anxiety . CONCLUSIONS Antidepressant drug administration modulates emotional processing in depressed patients very early in treatment , before changes occur in mood and symptoms . This effect may ameliorate the negative biases in information processing that characterize mood and anxiety disorders . It also suggests a mechanism of action compatible with cognitive theories of depression
The available evidence suggests the early changes in cognition may predict treatment response in individuals with MDD .
The results depict an emerging trend towards early changes in facial emotion recognition ( i.e. , a hot cognitive process ) as a predictor of treatment outcome .
Conclusion : The identification of reliable early treatment predictors of antidepressant response would be clinical ly significant , enabling clinicians to more accurately evaluate the efficacy of selected treatment avenues .
HIGHLIGHTSCognitive dysfunction is a principal feature and determinant of health outcome in MDD.Cognitive changes have shown to occur prior to improvements in mood symptoms .
Early changes in emotional processing may predict treatment response in MDD
Background : Despite the widespread use of antidepressants in clinical practice , the current trial‐ and ‐error approach to medication selection contributes to treatment failure and underscores the need to identify reliable predictors of antidepressant response .
Since changes in measures of cognition have been reported to occur early in treatment and prior to improvements in overall mood symptoms , the present review aims to determine whether early changes in measures of cognition can predict response in individuals with MDD .