Brain Sciences (Jul 2023)

Evolution of Cognitive Impairments in Treatment-Resistant Depression: Results from the Longitudinal French Centers of Expertise for Treatment-Resistant Depression (FACE-DR) Cohort

  • Alexis Vancappel,
  • Yecodji Dansou,
  • Ophelia Godin,
  • Emmanuel Haffen,
  • Antoine Yrondi,
  • Florian Stephan,
  • Raphaelle Marie Richieri,
  • Fanny Molière,
  • Jérôme Holtzmann,
  • Mathilde Horn,
  • Etienne Allauze,
  • Jean Baptiste Genty,
  • Alex Bouvard,
  • Jean-Michel Dorey,
  • Vincent Hennion,
  • Vincent Camus,
  • Guillaume Fond,
  • Barbara Peran,
  • Michel Walter,
  • Loic Anguill,
  • Charlotte Scotto D’apolina,
  • Estelle Vilà,
  • Benjamin Fredembach,
  • Jean Petrucci,
  • Romain Rey,
  • Anne Sophie Nguon,
  • Bruno Etain,
  • Mathilde Carminati,
  • Philippe Courtet,
  • Guillaume Vaiva,
  • Pierre Michel Llorca,
  • Marion Leboyer,
  • Bruno Aouizerate,
  • Djamila Bennabi,
  • Wissam El Hage

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13071120
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 7
p. 1120

Abstract

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Previous studies set out profound cognitive impairments in subjects with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). However, little is known about the course of such alterations depending on levels of improvement in those patients followed longitudinally. The main objective of this study was to describe the course of cognitive impairments in responder versus non-responder TRD patients at one-year follow-up. The second aim was to evaluate the predictive aspect of cognitive impairments to treatment resistance in patients suffering from TRD. We included 131 patients from a longitudinal cohort (FACE-DR) of the French Network of Expert TRD Centers. They undertook comprehensive sociodemographic, clinical, global functioning, and neuropsychological testing (TMT, Baddeley task, verbal fluencies, WAIS-4 subtests, D2 and RLRI-16) at baseline (V0) and one-year follow-up (V1). Most patients (n = 83; 63.36%) did not respond (47 women, 49.47 ± 12.64 years old), while one-third of patients responded (n = 48, 30 women, 54.06 ± 12.03 years old). We compared the cognitive performances of participants to average theoretical performances in the general population. In addition, we compared the cognitive performances of patients between V1 and V0 and responder versus non-responder patients at V1. We observed cognitive impairments during the episode and after a therapeutic response. Overall, each of them tended to show an increase in their cognitive scores. Improvement was more prominent in responders at V1 compared to their non-responder counterparts. They experienced a more marked improvement in code, digit span, arithmetic, similarities, and D2 tasks. Patients suffering from TRD have significant cognitive impairments that persist but alleviate after therapeutic response. Cognitive remediation should be proposed after therapeutic response to improve efficiency and increase the daily functioning.

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