Cognitive deficits of varying severity are found across the spectrum of mood disorders. In depression there are marked deficits across a broad range of cognitive functions including attention, working memory and executive function, particularly on tests that require effortful processing.

The following CANTAB® tests were selected on the basis of their established sensitivity to the mood disorders and their known neuropathology. The tests are selected to provide a broad assay of cognitive function in mood disorders in an assessment of approximately 40 minutes duration.

Motor Screening Task	Spatial Span	Delayed Matching to Sample
Familiarises participants with CANTAB	Tests working memory capacity	Assesses visual matching ability and visual recognition memory
One Touch Stockings of Cambridge	Rapid Visual Informaion Processing	Affective Go/No-go
A test of executive function, planning and working memory	Tests continuous performance and sustained attention	Assesses information processing biases for positive and negative stimuli