Neuropsychological mechanisms of depression and treatment

Furthering our understanding of the neuropsychological mechanisms of both depression and antidepressant treatment has the potential to both inform treatment development and predict individual treatment response. In this chapter, the neuropsychological mechanisms of depression and treatment are discussed. It is argued that negative biases in information processing are consistently found in depression, and that rather than acting directly to change mood, the primary mode of antidepressant treatment is to remediate these negative biases. Evidence from behavioral and functional magnetic imaging studies is reviewed. Finally, the implications of this cognitive neuropsychological model of antidepressant treatment as well as future directions and challenges for the model are considered.