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Higher depression scores are associated with lower pattern separation performance in humans

Semenova, Arina LU (2015) PSYK01 20142
Department of Psychology
Abstract
Memory impairment has been connected to depression, however this association appears complex. Pattern separation is a specific hippocampal function, which separates similar events and stimuli into distinct memory representations. Hippocampal volume reduction has been seen in individuals suffering from depression. Multiple rodent studies have shown that adult neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus is crucial for proper pattern separation. There are several factors that are thought to influence neurogenesis. For example stress, depressive symptoms and aging have a negative effect on neuronal plasticity. On the other hand, exercise and antidepressants seem to accelerate neurogenesis. Patients with hippocampal damage are impaired... (More)
Memory impairment has been connected to depression, however this association appears complex. Pattern separation is a specific hippocampal function, which separates similar events and stimuli into distinct memory representations. Hippocampal volume reduction has been seen in individuals suffering from depression. Multiple rodent studies have shown that adult neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus is crucial for proper pattern separation. There are several factors that are thought to influence neurogenesis. For example stress, depressive symptoms and aging have a negative effect on neuronal plasticity. On the other hand, exercise and antidepressants seem to accelerate neurogenesis. Patients with hippocampal damage are impaired in the pattern separation tasks, but not in the recognition memory tasks. Few studies have investigated the direct relationship between depression and pattern separation in humans. The current study addressed this issue by testing Swedish University students. We found a negative correlation between depression scores and pattern separation performance. The correlation between depression scores and recognition memory was not significant. Thus, we argue that depression is linked to impaired pattern separation ability. Unexpectedly, a gender-difference in pattern separation in favor of female subjects was found. We suggest that this issue should be investigated further by future studies. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Semenova, Arina LU
supervisor
organization
course
PSYK01 20142
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
depression, pattern separation, memory interference, recognition memory, BPS-O, neurogenesis, hippocampus, dentate gyrus, gender, gender-difference
language
English
id
5474192
date added to LUP
2015-07-06 14:36:38
date last changed
2015-07-06 14:36:38
@misc{5474192,
  abstract     = {{Memory impairment has been connected to depression, however this association appears complex. Pattern separation is a specific hippocampal function, which separates similar events and stimuli into distinct memory representations. Hippocampal volume reduction has been seen in individuals suffering from depression. Multiple rodent studies have shown that adult neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus is crucial for proper pattern separation. There are several factors that are thought to influence neurogenesis. For example stress, depressive symptoms and aging have a negative effect on neuronal plasticity. On the other hand, exercise and antidepressants seem to accelerate neurogenesis. Patients with hippocampal damage are impaired in the pattern separation tasks, but not in the recognition memory tasks. Few studies have investigated the direct relationship between depression and pattern separation in humans. The current study addressed this issue by testing Swedish University students. We found a negative correlation between depression scores and pattern separation performance. The correlation between depression scores and recognition memory was not significant. Thus, we argue that depression is linked to impaired pattern separation ability. Unexpectedly, a gender-difference in pattern separation in favor of female subjects was found. We suggest that this issue should be investigated further by future studies.}},
  author       = {{Semenova, Arina}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Higher depression scores are associated with lower pattern separation performance in humans}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}