Depression is often considered a mood disorder, but for many people, its most common symptoms are cognitive. Even after depressive episodes end, problems with memory, attention and mental processing can persist.
These effects can last months or years, making it difficult to work, study and carry out daily tasks. However, to date, there are no approved treatments specifically designed to improve these cognitive deficits.
In new, published this month in Psychological Medicineresearchers discovered that the prucalopridaa medication approved for the treatment of chronic constipation, improved performance on tests of memory, attention, and executive function in people with a history of depression.
According to , the test included 50 people aged between 18 and 40 who had previously had episodes of depression. Each participant had recovered from a depressive episode at least six months before joining the trial, and none of them were taking medication at the time.
Participants were randomly assigned to receive 2 milligrams of prucalopride, the currently authorized dose for chronic constipation, or a placebo, for seven to ten days.
Before and after taking the active drug or placebo, each participant took cognitive tests designed to assess executive function, short-term memory, long-term memory, and emotional cognition. Participants who received prucalopride became faster and more accurate on all tests.
Cognitive tests included an auditory verbal learning and memory task that assesses declarative memory, a working memory task, and tests of executive functioning.
Furthermore, the study also included three affective cognition tasks that tested emotional reasoning.
On cognitive tasks that measured memory and executive functioning, participants who took prucalopride had higher accuracy scores and faster response times than those who received a placebo.
Finally, the research group will continue to study ways to treat cognitive problems, which are common in people with severe depressive disorders and can affect memory, attention and concentration.
