SIGNIFICANCE OF DEPRESSION IN CLINICAL NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT

Clinically depressed affect is one of the most common clinical problems seen by health care providers. Clinical psychologists and neuropsychologists are routinely asked to evaluate the significance of depression in the clinical presentation of neurological and psychiatric patients. Growing research interest has created a large and diverse neuropsychological, psychiatric, and neurological literature in this area. This paper discusses methodological issues including the influence of factors such as subtypes of depression and confounding variables. Types of depressed deficits commonly found in various psychiatric and neurological populations are reviewed. Also presented are future research directions and strategies for discriminating depression from brain dysfunction.