Depression impairs learning, whereas the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, paroxetine, impairs generalization in patients with major depressive disorder-- Herzallah et al. (2013)
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In this study, researchers gave three separate groups (medication-naive patients with MDD;medicated patients with MDD; healthy controls) a computer-based cognitive task that incorporated two phases: 1. a sequence learning task via reward-based feedback and 2. a generalization phase where learned rules were to be applied.
They found that medication-naive patients were slower in learning the first phase (which was striatal-dependent) and normal on the second vs. medicated patients that were normal on the first phase and slower on the second (hippocampal-dependent).
Implications for learning:
Impaired learning for those suffering from major depressive disorder (performance was similar to that of patients with Parkinson's disease).
The use of SSRIs (a common anti-depressant) may have a detrimental effect on any learning that is dependent on medial temporal lobe structure