Many depressed individuals experience cognitive difficulties that persist when depression is in remission. Inflammation is hypothesized to play a role in cognitive dysfunction in depression; however, many aspects of this relationship are not well characterized. The current study examined whether inflammation is associated with specific cognitive deficits in individuals with a history of depression and with progressively worsening working memory over time. Adolescents who participated in a prospective, longitudinal study of adolescent-onset depression were recruited to complete a follow-up cognitive assessment. The sample was comprised of 82 participants (52.4% female; 37.8% white; 42.7% low socioeconomic status) who were aged 22.61 years ( = 1.50) at the time of the follow-up cognitive assessment. Prior to the follow-up cognitive assessment, they had completed an average of 6.24 ( = 1.80) prior annual assessments over 6.24 years ( = 2.08) as part of the parent longitudinal study in which C-reactive protein (CRP), depressive symptoms, and working memory were assessed repeatedly. First, using linear regression, we tested whether individuals exhibiting inflammation (CRP ≥3 mg/L) at multiple timepoints and a history of likely depression (Children’s Depression Inventory ≥19) exhibited differentially worse executive functioning, episodic memory, or psychomotor speed. Second, using hierarchical linear modeling, we tested whether the combination of inflammation and likely past depression was associated with poorer working memory over time. Chronic inflammation was associated with worsening working memory over time, but no significant associations were observed in cross-sectional analyses. These preliminary data indicate that chronic inflammation may lead to progressive decline in working memory over time.

中文翻译：

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慢性炎症与工作记忆表现恶化有关：来自青少年和年轻人的多样化纵向队列的初步证据

许多抑郁症患者在抑郁症缓解期间都会经历认知困难。据推测，炎症在抑郁症的认知功能障碍中发挥着一定作用。然而，这种关系的许多方面还没有得到很好的描述。目前的研究检查了炎症是否与有抑郁症病史的个体的特定认知缺陷以及随着时间的推移工作记忆逐渐恶化有关。招募参与青少年抑郁症前瞻性纵向研究的青少年来完成后续认知评估。该样本由 82 名参与者（52.4% 为女性；37.8% 为白人；42.7% 为低社会经济地位）组成，在后续认知评估时年龄为 22.61 岁 (= 1.50)。在后续认知评估之前，作为家长纵向研究的一部分，他们在 6.24 年 (= 2.08) 的时间里平均完成了 6.24 (= 1.80) 次先前年度评估，其中 C 反应蛋白 (CRP)、抑郁症状、和工作记忆被反复评估。首先，使用线性回归，我们测试了在多个时间点表现出炎症（CRP ≥3 mg/L）和可能抑郁病史（儿童抑郁量表≥19）的个体是否表现出差异较差的执行功能、情景记忆或精神运动速度。其次，使用分层线性模型，我们测试了炎症和可能过去的抑郁症的结合是否与随着时间的推移工作记忆较差有关。随着时间的推移，慢性炎症与工作记忆恶化有关，但横断面分析中没有观察到显着的关联。这些初步数据表明，随着时间的推移，慢性炎症可能会导致工作记忆逐渐下降。