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The temporal relationship between depression and cognitive decline has not been extensively investigated in prospective population-based studies, and most of these have only looked in one direction. We estimated the bidirectional temporal relationship between depressive symptoms and cognitive function in older subjects, excluding subjects with a clinical diagnosis of dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI). In a total of 2,963 individuals from the Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging, depressive symptoms, global cognitive function, and episodic memory were measured. Dementia, Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, and MCI were classified using current clinical criteria. Depressive symptoms at baseline were associated with an accelerated global cognitive function decline and an accelerated rate of episodic memory delayed recall decline in a 3.5-year follow-up. Finally, an accelerated increase with time of depressive symptoms during the same follow-up period was not associated with global cognitive function and episodic memory (immediate and delayed recall). In older subjects non-cognitively impaired, depressive symptoms at baseline predicted change over time of global cognitive decline and episodic memory delayed recall. Global cognitive function and episodic memory at baseline were not associated with the course of depressive symptoms during the follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: We evaluated the impact of depressive symptoms on the rate of incident mild cognitive impairment (MCI) after a 3.5-year follow-up, and we assessed the interaction between depressive symptoms and vascular risk factors for incident MCI., Methods: A total of 2,963 individuals from a sample of 5,632 65- to 84-year-old subjects were cognitively and functionally evaluated at the 1st and 2nd surveys of the Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging, a prospective cohort study with a 3.5-year follow-up. MCI and dementia were classified using current clinical criteria. Depressive symptoms were measured with the Geriatric Depression Scale., Results: Among the 2,963 participants, 139 prevalent MCI cases were diagnosed at the 1st survey. During the 3.5-year follow-up, 105 new events of MCI were diagnosed. We did not observe any significant association between depressive symptoms and incident MCI (RR = 1.25, 95% CI = 0.85-1.84, chi(2) = 1.30, p < 0.25). No sociodemographic variables or vascular risk factors modified the relationship between depressive symptoms and incident MCI., Conclusion: In our population, depressive symptoms were not associated with the rate of incident MCI. Our findings did not support a role of sociodemographic variables or vascular risk factors in the link between depressive symptoms and incident MCI., ((c) 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

The possible impact of diet, particularly the intake of fatty acids, on cognitive decline and dementia was addressed recently by several studies. We investigated the role of dietary fatty acids on the rate of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in a population-based, prospective study carried out on 278 and 186 nondemented elderly subjects (65-84 years) at the 1st (1992-1993) and 2nd (1995-1996) survey from the cohort of Casamassima, Bari, Italy (n=704), one of the eight centers of the Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging. During the median follow-up of 2.6 years, 18 new events of MCI were diagnosed, and high polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) intake appeared to be a protective factor against the development of MCI [hazard ratio (HR): 0.65, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.43-0.98, trend-test, df=1, p<0.04]. However, when we controlled for the possible confounders (age, sex, education, Charlson comorbidity index, and total energy intake), the HR slightly changed, and the highly skewed 95% CI, while not statistically significant, may be important (HR: 0.62, 95% CI: 0.34-1.13, p=0.12). In our population, dietary fatty acids intakes were not associated with incident MCI in older age, only high PUFA intake evidenced a borderline nonsignificant trend for a protective effect against the development of MCI.