Search

Arts B, Jabben N, Krabbendam L, van Os J. A 2-year naturalistic study on cognitive functioning in bipolar disorder. Cognitive alterations in bipolar disorder may reflect genetic influence. However, to what degree mood, medication, thyroid function and other factors impact on longitudinal cognitive functioning remains unclear. A group of patients with bipolar (spectrum) disorder ( n = 76) underwent two monthly cognitive assessments over a 2-year period in a prospective, repeated measures design. Regression models were used to investigate associations with predictors, corrected for multiple testing. Patients with bipolar disorder performed worse than healthy controls ( n = 61) on all cognitive domains tested. Effect sizes were small, with a maximum of −0.36 for sustained attention. However, cognitive performance varied substantially over the 2- year follow-up, co-varying with subjective cognitive complaints and impacting on functioning. Alterations in sustained attention and motor speed were the only impairments that were invariant over time. Predictors had very limited explanatory power on temporal variation in cognition. Use of second-generation antipsychotics was associated with the largest negative effects on cognition, which were evident in the areas of motor speed and basic information processing (−0.35 < β < −0.5). Cognitive function in bipolar disorder varies significantly over time, largely independent of clinical factors. The temporal stability of sustained attention is the exception, suggesting it may represent a possible candidate intermediary phenotype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate whether cognitive alterations associated with vulnerability to psychosis, are associated with expression of psychopathology and functional outcome in groups at different levels of risk for psychotic illness. Method: Neurocognition, psychopathology and functional outcome were measured in subjects with variable risk for psychosis: i) 29 patients with psychotic disorder, ii) 46 subjects at familial risk, iii) 41 subjects at psychometric risk and iv) 54 control subjects. Results: Dose-response relationships between cognitive dysfunction and increasing risk for psychosis were found. Cognitive alterations were predicted by negative symptoms in patients and by positive psychotic experiences in the familial risk group. In both at risk groups, cognitive speed was associated with functional outcome. Conclusion: Some cognitive impairments serve as neutral endophenotypic marker across the psychosis continuum. However, other cognitive alterations associated with transmission of psychosis may have a direct impact on the pathway from risk to psychopathology and alterations in functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is emerging evidence of social cognitive impairments in bipolar disorders (BD). Less evident is the question if social cognitive impairments are predictive of psychosocial functioning, independently of neurocognitive impairment. The aims of the study were to investigate if patients with BD-I showed impairments in facial emotion recognition and alterations in affective empathy, in relation to healthy controls, and if these impairments would predict psychosocial functioning, after accounting for neurocognitive impairments. Thirty-seven patients diagnosed with BD-I, in an euthymic state, and 37 matched healthy controls underwent an assessment including a facial recognition test (ERT) and a self-report scale of affective empathy (BEES). Patients additionally underwent an extensive neuropsychological assessment consisting of traditional tests. Patients with BD-I were significantly less able to recognize the emotion fear compared to healthy controls. However, the lower ability to recognize fear did not predict psychosocial functioning. In addition, it was not related to any of the other neuropsychological variables. The degree of self-reported empathy did not differ between patients and healthy controls. The results add to the evidence of a specific deficit in recognizing fear in BD-I; however, a link with psychosocial functioning was lacking. It is possible that the ability to recognize fear is related to a more narrow concept of interpersonal functioning than to the broad concept of psychosocial functioning. Future research should be directed towards aspects of social functioning in relation to social cognitive impairments, while taking account of subgroups of social cognitive functioning., (© 2025 The Author(s). Journal of Neuropsychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The British Psychological Society.)