Visuospatial and mathematical dysfunction in major depressive disorder and/or panic disorder: A study of parietal functioning

Abstract

The parietal cortex is critical for several different cognitive functions, including visuospatial processing and mathematical abilities. There is strong evidence indicating parietal dysfunction in depression. However, it is less clear whether anxiety is associated with parietal dysfunction and whether comorbid depression and anxiety are associated with greater impairment. The present study compared participants with major depression (MDD), panic disorder (PD), comorbid MDD/PD and controls on neuropsychological measures of visuospatial processing, Judgement of Line Orientation (JLO), and mathematical abilities, Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) Arithmetic. Only comorbid MDD/PD was associated with decreased performance on JLO, whereas all psychopathological groups exhibited comparably decreased performance on WRAT Arithmetic. Furthermore, the results were not accounted for by other comorbid disorders, medication use or psychopathology severity. The present study suggests comorbid depression and anxious arousal are associated with impairment in visuospatial processing and provides novel evidence indicating mathematical deficits across depression and/or anxiety. Implications for understanding parietal dysfunction in internalising psychopathology are discussed.

Keywords:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Mathematical abilities
• Parietal cortex
• Visuospatial processing

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Neil H. Pliskin for his assistance with the selection of neuropsychological tests.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ The sample from the present study has been reported elsewhere (e.g., Shankman et al., 2013). Specifically, the larger study consisted of 191 participants, including those with current MDD only (n = 40), current PD only (n = 28), comorbid MDD/PD (n = 58) or healthy controls (n = 65). Six participants (one MDD only, one PD only and four comorbid MDD/PD) did not complete the JLO and WRAT and were excluded from analyses. The six participants who did not complete the JLO and WRAT did not differ from the MDD-only, PD-only and comorbid MDD/PD participants who did complete the JLO and WRAT on demographics or psychopathology severity (i.e., BAI, HRSD and GAF; ps > .10).

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by NIMH [grant number R21 MH080689] awarded to S. A. Shankman.