DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY 32:262–269 (2015) Review MEASURING COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN MDD: EMERGING ASSESSMENT TOOLS

Cognitive impairment is emerging as an important therapeutic target in patients with psychiatric illnesses, includingmajor depressive disorder (MDD). The objec-tive of this general overview is to briefly review the evidence for cognitive impair-ment in MDD and to summarize a representative sample of cognitive assessment tools currently available to assess cognitive function in depressed patients. Study results in MDD patients with cognitive dysfunction are somewhat inconsistent, likely due to the heterogeneity of the disorder as well as the use of diverse as-sessment tools. Measuring cognitive changes in this population is challenging. Cognitive symptoms are typically less severe than in patients with schizophre-nia and bipolar disorder, requiring greater sensitivity than afforded by exist-ing tools. Preliminary evidence suggests antidepressant treatments may improve cognitive functioning as a direct result of ameliorating depressive symptoms; however, any procognitive effects have not been elucidated. To evaluate antide-pressant efficacy inMDDpatients with cognitive dysfunction, a standardized cog-nitive battery for use in clinical trials is essential. Depression and Anxiet