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September 14, 2026Aging & Mental Health

Treating depression predicts cognitive improvement in Mild Cognitive Impairment: a 1-year prospective cohort study

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Authors

VBValentina BaldiniGMGreta MartinelliDRDiana De Ronchi

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Overview

Prospective cohort study reveals cognitive improvement following depression treatment in mild cognitive impairment, indicating that managing mood symptoms may help mitigate cognitive decline.

Key Points

  • To evaluate whether treating comorbid depression is associated with distinct cognitive trajectories over one year in individuals diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment.
  • Conducted a 1-year prospective cohort study evaluating 290 outpatients with mild cognitive impairment, categorized into those with comorbid major depressive disorder (MCI + MDD, N=139) and those without depression (MCI-only, N=151).
  • Evaluated global cognition using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and depressive symptoms using the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15), at baseline and 12-month follow-up.
  • Over 12 months, MCI + MDD patients showed cognitive gains (MMSE +0.7, MoCA +1.3) whereas MCI-only patients declined (MMSE -0.9, MoCA -1.1), yielding significant between-group differences on MMSE (+1.55, d = 0.89; adjusted difference +1.20, p < .001) and MoCA (+2.42, d = 0.82; adjusted difference +1.43, p < .001).
  • Depressive symptoms decreased substantially in the MCI + MDD cohort over follow-up (GDS Δ -1.45, p < .01).
  • At 12 months, 14.4% of patients in the MCI + MDD group no longer met criteria for mild cognitive impairment compared to 2.6% of MCI-only patients (p < .001).

Cite This Study

Baldini et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6aa7b3440926e14a848b1fe5https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2026.2730471
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