However, a link between depression and performance in memory tasks requiring pattern separation is still unclear even though it is well established that depression is associated with reduced declarative memory performance and decreased hippocampal volume.
When the default state is activated too much, which is what happens in the untrained mind, it's a risk factor for a whole range of different problems like anxiety, depression reduced performance in terms of work, study and learning at school and overall lower psychological well-being.
This might be explained by lower treatment compliance in depressed patients or by a higher incidence of depression in patients with poor performance status [ 26].
In contrast, although variable, z-scores across the more sensitive neuropsychological measures of cognition showed that persons with depression had performance decrements in the mildly reduced range (ie. approximately half a standard deviation lower than controls) on measures of initial learning and memory retention.
Our data did not support the influential factor of depression but corroborate the influence of pain in performance.
The role of depression in obesity treatment attendance and performance is uncertain; some studies show poorer attendance amongst depressed patients [ 8, 11] and others show improved attendance in those with a history of depression [ 7, 10].
In addition, QoL, depression, physical performance and cognitive capacity will be assessed.
First, clinically effective human treatments such as antidepressants reduce TST and FST immobility [9], [10]; second, manipulation of genes known to be involved in depression in humans affects TST and FST performance [11], [12], [13], [14]; and, finally, mice bred to express a behavioral or physiological "depressive" phenotype show increased immobility [15], [16], [17].
With an AUC for major depression in our study of 0.87, the performance of the PHQ-9 in identifying major depression was somewhat worse than has been demonstrated for general medical populations, where the AUC was 0.95 [ 18].
