Evaluating the clinical significance of cognitive dysfunction in
patients who exhibit signs of both depression and dementia is one of the
more formidable challenges in psychiatry. This article reviews cognitive
dysfunction associated with depression, the concept of "pseudodementia,"
and the syndromal phenomenology of coexisting depression and
Alzheimer's-type dementia. The state of the art in neuropsychologic,
electroencephalographic, metabolic, and neuroradiographic techniques for
evaluating dementia and depression syndromes will be discussed, as will
implications for the treatment of such patients.Abstract Teaser