Gender differences in depression: perspectives from neuropsychology

Although there has been much productive research in neuropsychology on the topic of depression, rarely has the issue of gender differences been taken into consideration. It is not uncommon for researchers investigating the neuropsychological concomitants of depression to test only women, or far more women than men, making it impossible to examine the prospect that there might be differences between these two groups. This article is an attempt to integrate research from two areas of neuropsychology: (1) gender differences in neuropsychological functions and (2) neuropsychological functions in depression. Since so few studies have examined gender differences in depression and their relation to neuropsychological patterns, there will be few firm conclusions to be drawn. However, some speculations will be offered, and some suggestions outlined for potentially fruitful future research.