Abstract: Objective  To investigate the effect of hypercholesterolemia on cognitive function in patients with firstepisode middleaged depression， so as to provide a reliable theoretical basis for clinical treatment and prevention. Methods  Middleaged depressive disorder patients who received treatment of the first onset of depression in the hospital were all righthanded. Depressive disorder  patients with hypercholesterolemia were selected as study group(n=58)， and depression patients without hypercholesterolemia served as control group(n=60). The cogntion assessment tools (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale， Wechsler Memory Scale and WCST) were used to evaluate the cognitive function of  two groups， and the cognitive function of  two groups was compared.Results  Digital span， fill in the blanks， recognition， and persistent error number  of study group were significantly different as compared with those of  control group(P<0.05).Conclusion  Hypercholesterolemia aggravates  the cognitive impairment in patients with depression.

Key words: depressive disorder； hypercholesterolemia, cognitive function, neuropsychological tests