There is a wealth of empirical data pertaining to the issue of neuropsychological impairment in depression. However, a coherent and comprehensive framework for understanding the disorder remains elusive. This review will briefly consider some of the important issues on which recent research has focused. It would be premature to derive firm conclusions in an area characterized by considerable confusion, so the aim of this review is to highlight the key areas that must be addressed. Three distinct questions are considered. The first concerns the neuropsychological specificity of the deficits associated with depression; whether they represent selective deficits or a more general profile of impairment. The second question is to determine how cognitive deficits might relate to clinical and demographic factors, including symptom severity, hospitalization, medication and ageing. Finally, a comprehensive theory of depression must also relate impairments to neuropathology, and evidence is now available from imaging studies that have attempted to elucidate neural substrates of neuropsychological deficits.

中文翻译：

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单相抑郁的神经心理学概况

有大量关于抑郁症神经心理障碍问题的经验数据。然而，理解这种疾病的连贯而全面的框架仍然难以捉摸。本综述将简要讨论最近研究重点关注的一些重要问题。在一个以相当混乱为特征的领域得出确切结论还为时过早，因此本次审查的目的是突出必须解决的关键领域。考虑了三个不同的问题。第一个涉及与抑郁症相关的缺陷的神经心理学特异性；它们是代表选择性缺陷还是更普遍的损害情况。第二个问题是确定认知缺陷如何与临床和人口统计学因素相关，包括症状严重程度、住院、药物治疗和老龄化。最后，抑郁症的综合理论还必须将损伤与神经病理学联系起来，现在可以从试图阐明神经心理缺陷的神经基础的影像学研究中获得证据。