Cognitive Flexibility in Major Depression in the Course of Pharmacological and Psychotherapeutic Treatment
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2008-08-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Cognitive deficits in major depression seem explicable by the well-recognized concept of
impaired neuroplasticity in mood disorders. This concept initially emerged from preclinical
evidence that antidepressants phosphorylate and therefore activate the cyclic AMP response
element binding protein (CREB) that is essential for synaptic plasticity. Nevertheless, the
question remains whether the activation of CREB by antidepressants is relevant for the
remission of cognitive deficits in patients. We addressed this issue by investigating the
cognitive improvement during treatment with either citalopram or reboxetine because these
antidepressants are different in their capacity to increase phosphorylated CREB (pCREB).
Besides the pharmacological treatment groups, another group of patients was treated
exclusively with psychotherapy.