The Effects Of Venlafaxine On The Attention Networks In Depression

Objective To examine the attention networks in depressive disorder and the possible relationships between the clinical and the attention parameters. To investigate the effects of venlafaxine which inhibit both serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake on attention networks in depression.Method 30 Patients met CCMD-3 criteria for depressive disorder were treated with venlafaxine and were tested with attention network test, SDS, HAMD before and after 6 weeks.Results The depressed patients showed significant deficits in the alerting and executive control networks. The age of depressed patients was significantly negative correlated with alerting network effects while was significantly positively correlated with the executive control network effects and RT. The alerting network effects were also negatively correlated with the factor 6 (sleep disturbance) in HAMD. The mean accuracy was negatively correlated with the HAMD scores in depression. After treated, the alerting effects were significantly increased, these changes were positive correlated with the improvement of factor 6. The executive control network effects and RT were significantly reduced. The clinical scores of SDS and HAMD were significantly reduced. However, the orienting effects were not changed.Conclusion The depressed patients suffered alerting and executive control networks deficits. The attention damages of depressive disorder were correlated with symptoms.