ArticleCureus2025
Cognitive Dysfunction and Learning Implications in Medical Students With Depressive Symptoms: Electrophysiological Evidence From P300 Event-Related Potentials.
Article in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
introductionMajor depressive disorder is highly prevalent among medical students and strongly associated with cognitive dysfunctions.
objectiveTo compare neuropsychological and electrophysiological profiles (P300 parameters) of medical students with and without depressive symptoms.
methodsA cross-sectional and comparative study was conducted with 140 second-year medical students. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Cognitive performance was evaluated with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and CogniFit (CogniFit Inc., San Francisco, CA, USA) computerized tests. Event-related potentials were recorded through a standard auditory oddball paradigm, analyzing N100, N200, and P300 latency and amplitude. Statistical analyses included independent sample t-tests and analysis of variance, with significance set at p < 0.05. Effect sizes (Cohen's d) were reported for all group comparisons, and appropriate corrections for multiple comparisons were applied to control type I error.
resultsStudents with depressive symptoms exhibited slower response time (p < 0.01), processing speed (p = 0.01), impaired contextual memory (p =.01), short-term memory (p = 0.01), working memory (p = 0.01), focused attention (p = 0.01) and perception domain( p = 0.03). On the MoCA, lower in abstraction (p = 0.03), delayed memory recall (p < 0.01), and total MoCA score (p = 0.008). Event-related potentials analysis revealed significantly prolonged latencies for N100, N200, and P300 (all, p < 0.01), and decreased amplitudes in N100, N200, and P300 (p < 0.05). Prolonged event-related potentials latencies (particularly P300) correlated negatively with performance on processing speed (r = -0.39, p < 0.001), focused attention (r = -0.32, p < 0.001), and delayed recall (r = -0.31, p < 0.001).
conclusionsMedical students with depressive symptoms demonstrate specific cognitive impairments and altered event-related potential markers, reflecting reduced attentional efficiency and information processing. Combining computerized neuropsychological testing with electrophysiological measures may provide a feasible screening pathway for cognitive vulnerability among medical trainees and guide the development of preventive and educational interventions within medical curricula.
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