Depression and cerebral stroke.

Behavioral and psychological changes following cerebrovascular pathology have long been known. Depression, often severe and long-lasting, is a common and often unrecognized component of stroke. Although many of the clinical characteristics of poststroke depression have been reported in the literature for years, systematic studies of the frequency, course, relationship to lesion location, and response to treatment have only recently been undertaken. In this review, the authors briefly examine these various aspects of poststroke depression.