Neuropsychological deficits have been reported in patients with major depressive disorder in a lot of lectures. The aim of the present study was to measure the neurocognitive functions of major depressive patients and healthy controls, and identify some vulnerability marker of the disease. Seventy-one patients with major depressive disorder were compared to thirty healthy control subjects on tasks from Trail Making Test, Stroop Test, Rey Verbal Auditory Learning Test and Rey-Osterreith Figure Test. Patients with depression relative to controls were significantly impaired on tasks of attention, executive function, memory and psychomotor speed, but not in visuo-spatial function. These findings suggest deficits in cognitive function as, attention, visual and verbal memory and learning, as vulnerability marker for major depressive disorder. The second important finding, the better result of the visual perception and short memory in depressed patient, was caused by intact hippocampal function. The functional importance of this result is the connection of the neuronal network and signs of depression.

KEYWORDS: major depression, neurocognition, vulnerability marker

This article reviews the published clinical data on schizophrenic patients managed with the new formulation of quetiapine, the once-daily extended release quetiapine fumarate (quetiapine XR). Quetiapine XR has been developed to reduce the frequency of quetiapine dosing by introducing once-daily administration and to simplify the treatment initiation schedule. Quetiapine XR (400 to 800 mg/day) was effective versus placebo across a broad range of symptom domains in acute schizophrenia and was as well tolerated as the immediate release (IR) formulation. Rapid dose escalation of quetiapine XR (300 mg on day 1, 600 mg on day 2, and 800mg on day 3) was also well tolerated, with a therapeutically effective dose reached by day 2. Clinically stable patients with schizophrenia receiving quetiapine IR (400-800 mg/day) can be switched to an equivalent once-daily dose of quetiapine XR (400- 800 mg/day once-daily) without clinical deterioration or compromise in tolerability. Evidence from a clinical trial has shown that patients with schizophrenia who had a history of unsatisfactory treatment (tolerability or efficacy) on typical or atypical antipsychotic experienced improved efficacy and clinical benefit when switched to quetiapine XR. Once-daily quetiapine XR (400- 800 mg/nap) was effective compared with placebo in preventing relapse in patients with clinically stable schizophrenia, and was well tolerated during long-term use. Patients could be switched from their ongoing antipsychotic to quetiapine XR within 4 days without compromising efficacy, enabling a dose of 600 mg/day and 800 mg/day to be reached by Day 2 and Day 3 respectively. This new, once-daily formulation of quetiapine offers psychiatrists and patients valuable new treatment options for the short and long-term treatment of schizophrenia.

KEYWORDS: quetiapine, once-daily, extended release, schizophrenia