ArticleAging & mental health2026
Depression and cognition: is there a bidirectional relationship?
Article in Aging & mental health, 2026. 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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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Abstract
objectivesThe association between depression and cognition is well-established, but there is uncertainty regarding the direction of causation. We evaluated the relationship between depression and poor cognition in both directions.
methodWe used population-based samples from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS, 2008-2020) and the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS, Waves 2 and 3) study. We used an incidence modeling approach, excluding individuals who exhibited the outcome of interest at the start of the survey interval to help mitigate potential reverse-causality. Adjustment for potential confounders included sociodemographic characteristics, alcohol consumption, and major health conditions.
resultsIn the fully-adjusted model for HRS, depression exhibited a significant effect on subsequent cognitive impairment two years later (OR = 1.28, 95% CI 1.12-1.46), whereas the effect of cognitive impairment on subsequent depression was weaker and not significant (OR = 1.10, 0.98-1.23). The pattern of results was similar in MIDUS. Depression was significantly associated with subsequent poor cognition approximately nine years later (OR = 2.01, 1.30-3.12), but poor cognition had no significant effect on subsequent depression (OR = 0.75, 0.93-1.43).
conclusionOur results suggest that depression may have an inverse causal effect on cognition, but we found little evidence that good cognitive function had a protective causal effect on depression.
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