It was already known that people who suffer an acute depressive episode are less likely to remember current events, but the new model suggests that older memories are also affected.
During a depressive episode, the brain’s ability to produce new brain cells is reduced. In major depressive disorder, patients can suffer from cognitive impairment so severe that it is sometimes referred to as pseudodementia.
Pseudodementia differs from the classic form of dementia in that the memory recovers once the depressive episode has ended.
