Scientists discovered a vicious circle! Depression in the elderly can lead to memory loss

Not only does depression affect memory, it seems the other way around, researchers report.
Depression can contribute to memory loss and vice versa, according to researchers who studied around 8,200 Britons over two decades.

The team found that “linear change in depressive symptoms” “contributed to accelerated memory loss” in the study group, which consisted of people aged 50 and over, with an average age of 64.

But not only does depression affect memory, it seems the other way around, researchers say in a paper published by the American Medical Association.
Faster change in memory is also reciprocally associated with faster change in depression symptoms over time, according to a British-American team of scientists and doctors from University College London, University of Rochester Medical Center and Brighton and Sussex Medical School.

Psychological mood and memory performance are fundamentally linked, the researchers explain, noting that although cognitive dysfunction has previously been associated with depression, the direction of this association was not clear.

Participants were surveyed every other year between 2002 and 2019, using measures such as tests of memory and verbal fluency, as well as a depression symptom assessment format provided by the Center for Epidemiological Studies.