Cognitive Impairment and Depression—Cause, Consequence, or Coincidence?

Depression is reliably associated with cognitive impairment, but the causal nature of this relationship remains unclear. This is important because if cognitive impairment drives the development of depressive symptoms, boosting cognition may help to treat or even prevent depression. In this issue of JAMA Psychiatry, MacKenzie and colleagues¹ address this issue, performing a systematic review and meta-analysis of cognition in individuals with a first-degree relative with depression.