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Slowing Cognitive Decline in Major Depressive Disorder and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Rajji TK, Bowie CR, Herrmann N, Pollock BG, Lanctôt KL, Kumar S, Flint AJ, Mah L et al.. JAMA psychiatry, 2025-01-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Results Of 486 older adults who provided consent, 375 (with rMDD, MCI, or both) received at least 1 intervention session (mean [SD] age, 72.2 [6.4] years; 232 women [62%] and 143 men [38%]). Similarly, the effect of CR and tDCS on delaying progression from normal cognition to MCI or MCI to dementia was weak and not significant (hazard ratio, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.40 to 1.08; P = .10). Preplanned analyses showed treatment effects for executive function (LRT P = .04) and verbal memory (LRT P = .02) and interactions with diagnosis (P = .01) and APOE ε4 (P Conclusions and relevance The study showed that CR and tDCS, both targeting the prefrontal cortex, is efficacious in slowing cognitive decline in older adults at risk of cognitive decline, particularly those with rMDD (with or without MCI) and in those at low genetic risk for Alzheimer disease.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Rajji, T. K., Bowie, C. R., Herrmann, N., Pollock, B. G., Lanctôt, K. L., Kumar, S., et al. (2025). Slowing Cognitive Decline in Major Depressive Disorder and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024.3241
Vancouver
Rajji TK, Bowie CR, Herrmann N, Pollock BG, Lanctôt KL, Kumar S, et al. Slowing Cognitive Decline in Major Depressive Disorder and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA psychiatry. 2025. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024.3241. PMID: 39476073.
BibTeX
@article{rajji2025-39476073,
author = {Rajji, T. K. and Bowie, C. R. and Herrmann, N. and Pollock, B. G. and Lanctôt, K. L. and Kumar, S. and Flint, A. J. and Mah, L. and others},
title = {{Slowing Cognitive Decline in Major Depressive Disorder and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Randomized Clinical Trial}},
journal = {JAMA psychiatry},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024.3241},
pmid = {39476073},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024.3241}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- Results Of 486 older adults who provided consent, 375 (with rMDD, MCI, or both) received at least 1 intervention session (mean [SD] age, 72.2 [6.4] years; 232 women [62%] and 143 men [38%]).
- Similarly, the effect of CR and tDCS on delaying progression from normal cognition to MCI or MCI to dementia was weak and not significant (hazard ratio, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.40 to 1.08; P = .10).
- Preplanned analyses showed treatment effects for executive function (LRT P = .04) and verbal memory (LRT P = .02) and interactions with diagnosis (P = .01) and APOE ε4 (P < .001) demonstrating a larger effect among those with rMDD and in noncarriers of APOE ε4.
Why it matters
In this trial of 375 older adults, cognitive remediation and transcranial direct current stimulation slowed cognitive decline in some participants, particularly those with remitted major depressive disorder. The effect on delaying progression from normal cognition to mild cognitive impairment or from mild cognitive impairment to dementia was weak and not significant.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 67/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a randomised controlled trial. Scored zero for sample size and effect reported because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 64 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 67 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (JAMA psychiatry) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | JAMA Psychiatry: journal h-index 256 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 11 / 12 | A randomised controlled trial (from PubMed type “Randomized Controlled Trial”) |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (pubmed indexes it as a clinical or observational study) |
| Randomised / blinded | 1 / 2 | Randomised (as stated in the record) |
| Times cited | 3 / 7 | Cited 38 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 12.7 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 5.2× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 38 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of Toronto: institution h-index 1,923 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 3 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 14 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 39476073) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 64 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 64 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 67 out of 100. |
| Total | 67 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024.3241
- PubMed: 39476073
- Original source →
- Free full text: PubMed Central →
Full text: free to read — PubMed Central lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 10 Oct 2026).
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