Depression and Cognition in the Elderly

This review provides an overview of the relationship between depression and cognition in the elderly, with an emphasis on psychotherapies and nonpharmacologic approaches. We first review the clinical presentation of late-life depression and comorbid cognitive impairment, as well as the epidemiology and risk factors for cognitive impairment in late-life depression and the temporal relationship between depression and cognitive impairment. Next, we discuss the salient topic of elderly suicide and cognitive impairment. We then touch briefly on the neuropsychological deficits, biomarkers, and neuroimaging findings in late-life depression with comorbid cognitive impairment. We then focus most of this review on psychotherapies and nontraditional treatments for late-life depression with comorbid cognitive impairment and examine what evidence, if any, exists of the cognitive and functional benefits of these treatments. Finally, we examine the cognitive effects of pharmacologic treatments and brain stimulation therapies.