Venlafaxine treatment reduces the deficit of executive control of attention in patients with major depressive disorder

Abstract

Attention plays an essential role in supporting other cognitive functions and behavior, and disturbance of attention is one of the most common symptoms in major depressive disorder (MDD). Although treatment with venlafaxine for MDD symptoms has been shown to reduce deficits in cognition and emotion regulation, it remains unclear whether venlafaxine improves specific attentional functions. We used the Attention Network Test to measure the attentional functions of alerting, orienting, and executive control before and after treatment with venlafaxine in patients with MDD compared to untreated healthy controls. Before treatment, the MDD group showed a selective impairment in alerting and executive control of attention, while there were no significant group differences in the orienting function. The interaction between group and session was significant for executive control, and after treatment with venlafaxine, the performance of the MDD group on executive control of attention was not significantly different from that of controls. Reported symptoms of MDD were also significantly reduced after treatment with venlafaxine. These results demonstrate that treatment with venlafaxine selectively normalizes the executive control function of attention in addition to improving clinical symptoms in MDD.

A simple attention test in the acute phase of a major depressive episode is predictive of later functional remission

“…Among cognitive deficits in depression, attention impairment was more particularly assessed. Indeed, attention is often considered as playing an important role in supporting other cognitive functions and behavior (Tian, 2016) and recent findings provide support for a primary attention deficit in depression (Nilsson, 2016) that might constitute a vulnerability marker for MDD (Weiland-Fiedler, 2004). The identification of an index of the attention process (the F1 marker of the d2 attention test) that has time stability and is predictive of functional recovery is consistent with these findings.…”

Cognitive dysfunction in major depression: From assessment to novel therapies

“…Directly comparing with nortriptyline 1mg/lkg, Culang-Reinleib et al, 2012 reported that sertraline patients showe d significant improvement in verbal learning, and more so than nortriptyline patients, who showed no improvements (Culang-Reinlieb et al, 2012). Sertraline also improved memory in non-responders, indicating that effects on cognition may be independent of those on depression symptomatology, consistent with previous suggestions by Tian et al, 2016. Given the small sample size N=33and lack of placebo control, further replication studies are warranted.…”

“…This positive effect may be a direct result of serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibition, improving symptomatology and cognition, although the small sample size of 81 is limiting. Interestingly, Tian et al, 2016 reported that executive control and depression symptom improvement were not correlated, indicating that these effects may potentially occur via different mechanisms.…”

“…Despite this, some antidepressants may still have better effects on cognition than others. SNRIs have been linked to improved recovery of episodic and working memory (Tian et al, 2016). Given that some studies have not correlated executive control improvements with depression severity, this underscores that SNRIs may exert pro -cognitive effects via mechanisms independent of depression symptom improvement, linked to increased DA concentrations in the frontal, limbic and parietal areas (Herrera-Guzman et al, 2009).…”

“…or class) has been found to have consistently superior effects on cognition.It is of interest to note some pharmacological findings. Post treatment with venlafaxine,Tian et al, 2016 reported that improved executive control and depression severity were not correlated, indicating that these are likely underpinned by different mechanisms. A selective effect to improve the executive control of attention, often manifesting in patients as impulsivity, was suggested to be due to increasing DA concentration in frontal, limbic, andA C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P Tparietal areas.…”