Depression can contribute to memory loss, and vice versa

(Patria) - Depression can contribute to memory loss and vice versa, according to researchers who studied about 8,200 Britons over two decades.

The team found that "linear change in depressive symptoms" contributed to accelerated memory loss among the observed group, which consisted of people aged 50 and over, with an average age of 64.

But depression doesn't just affect memory; the reverse also appears to be true, researchers reported in a paper published by the American Medical Association.

"Faster change in memory was also reciprocally associated with faster change in depressive symptoms over time," claims the British-American team of scientists and doctors from University College London, University of Rochester Medical Center, and Brighton and Sussex Medical School.

"Mood and memory performance are fundamentally linked," the researchers explained, noting that while cognitive dysfunction had previously been linked to depression, "the direction of this association" had not been clear.

Participants were tested every two years between 2002 and 2019, using measures such as memory and verbal fluency tests, as well as a format for assessing depressive symptoms provided by the Center for Epidemiological Studies.