Neuropsychological functioning in young subjects with generalised anxiety disorder with and without pharmacotherapy

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the neuropsychological functioning and the effect of antidepressant drug intake on cognitive performance in a group of relatively young generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) patients. Forty patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of GAD and 31 healthy subjects participated in the study (Control group, CON). None of the selected subjects had comorbid depression. GAD subjects were divided into two different subgroups: 18 were taking antidepressants, [GAD-pharmacotherapy (GAD-p group)] and 22 were treatment-naïve (GAD group). Each group was administered a comprehensive neuropsychological battery to assess attention, memory and executive functions. Performance on executive and non-verbal memory tasks of both GAD groups was largely worse than the CON group. However, these deficits seem to be more marked in patients taking antidepressants, especially in the domains of attention, non-verbal memory and executive functions. The present study indicates that GAD is associated with cognitive impairments among young adults. However, the observed association of neuropsychological deficits and the use of pharmacotherapy suggest a possible effect of antidepressant treatment on attention, executive functioning and non-verbal memory.