Page 87 - Petelin, Ana, Nejc Šarabon, eds. 2018. Zdravje starostnikov ▪︎ Health of the Elderly. Zbornik povzetkov z recenzijo ▪︎ Book of Abstracts. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem/University of Primorska Press
P. 87
chomotor retardation in geriatric depression psihosocialni vidiki prilagajanja na staranje | psychosocial aspects of adjustment to aging
Marko Pišljar
University of Primorska, Faculty of Health Sciences, Polje 42, 6310 Izola, Slovenia
Introduction: Geriatric depression differs from early onset depression: pa-
tients have more somatic complaints, they score worse on cognitive, particu-
larly frontal tests, and many of them present with psychomotor slowness. De-
pression in late life, more often than not, follows a relapsing or chronic course.
The cognitive response to antidepressant treatment is variable, and impair-
ments persist even after effective treatment of depression. Psychomotor im-
pairment is one of the main characteristics of the late onset depression.
Methods: Twenty patients with late onset depression were included in the
study after they had reached remission. The aim of this study was to compare
perfusion SPECT between two groups of patients with psychomotor slowing:
a group of patients with lower reaction time (RT) and group with higher RT.
Results: The group of patients with longer RTs showed significant hyperperfu-
sion of precentral gyrus, parietal regions, cuneus and hypoperfusion within in-
sular, frontal, temporal, limbic cortices, as well as cerebellum.
Discussion and conclusions: Patients with geriatric depression in early remis-
sion may differ on the degree of psychomotor retardation measured as RT.
Those with greater psychomotor retardation measured exhibited hypoper-
fusion in deep brain structure and significant hyperperfusion of higher corti-
cal structure when compared to those with lower psychomotor retardation
measured, possibly reflecting different strategies to cope with cognitive im-
pairment.
Keywords: geriatric depression, psychomotor retardation, perfusion SPECT
85
Marko Pišljar
University of Primorska, Faculty of Health Sciences, Polje 42, 6310 Izola, Slovenia
Introduction: Geriatric depression differs from early onset depression: pa-
tients have more somatic complaints, they score worse on cognitive, particu-
larly frontal tests, and many of them present with psychomotor slowness. De-
pression in late life, more often than not, follows a relapsing or chronic course.
The cognitive response to antidepressant treatment is variable, and impair-
ments persist even after effective treatment of depression. Psychomotor im-
pairment is one of the main characteristics of the late onset depression.
Methods: Twenty patients with late onset depression were included in the
study after they had reached remission. The aim of this study was to compare
perfusion SPECT between two groups of patients with psychomotor slowing:
a group of patients with lower reaction time (RT) and group with higher RT.
Results: The group of patients with longer RTs showed significant hyperperfu-
sion of precentral gyrus, parietal regions, cuneus and hypoperfusion within in-
sular, frontal, temporal, limbic cortices, as well as cerebellum.
Discussion and conclusions: Patients with geriatric depression in early remis-
sion may differ on the degree of psychomotor retardation measured as RT.
Those with greater psychomotor retardation measured exhibited hypoper-
fusion in deep brain structure and significant hyperperfusion of higher corti-
cal structure when compared to those with lower psychomotor retardation
measured, possibly reflecting different strategies to cope with cognitive im-
pairment.
Keywords: geriatric depression, psychomotor retardation, perfusion SPECT
85
