Vortioxetine May Have Specific Cognitive-Enhancing Effects in Depression

Although slowed cognitive function is a known symptom of depression that responds to antidepressants, neuropsychological deficits and improvement with treatment have been less consistently shown. In this industry-funded, randomized, controlled trial, investigators examined changes in several measures of cognitive function in 602 depressed patients treated for 8 weeks with the novel serotonergic antidepressant vortioxetine (10–20 mg/day), the serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor duloxetine (60 mg/day), or placebo.

Compared with placebo, both antidepressants reduced depression (on the Clinical Global Impression Scale), but only vortioxetine significantly improved cognitive performance (on the Digit Symbol Substitution Test [DSST] and th…