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The British Journal of Psychiatry (2002) 180: 313-319
© 2002 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

Sustained attention deficit in bipolar disorder

LUKE CLARK, DPhil

University Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford

SUSAN D. IVERSEN, ScD

Department of Experimental Psychology, South Parks Road, Oxford

GUY M. GOODWIN, FRCPsych

University Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford

Correspondence: Professor G. M. Goodwin, University Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX37JX, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 1865 226451; fax: +44 (0) 1865 204198; e-mail: guy.goodwin{at}psychiatry.oxford.ac.uk

Declaration of interest None.

See pp. 320–326 and editorial, pp. 293–295, this issue.

Background Recovery in bipolar disorder is central to its definition but is rarely complete. Previous work has suggested that neuropsychological impairment persists during the euthymic state but has been confounded partly by mild affective symptoms in remitted patients.

Aims To characterise neuropsychological functioning in the euthymic phase of bipolar disorder with an emphasis on tasks of executive functioning.

Method Thirty euthymic patients with bipolar disorder were compared with thirty healthy controls on neuropsychological tasks differentially sensitive to damage within prefrontal cortex.

Results Bipolar I patients were impaired on tasks of attentional set shifting, verbal memory and sustained attention. Only sustained attention deficit survived controlling for mild affective symptoms. This deficit was related to progression of illness, but was none the less present in a subgroup of patients near illness onset.

Conclusions Sustained attention deficit may represent a neuropsychological vulnerability marker for bipolar disorder, providing a focus for further understanding of the phenotype and analysis of the neuronal networks involved.

Related articles in BJP:

Highlights of this issue

ELIZABETH WALSH
BJP 2002 180: 0. [Full Text]  

Cognitive impairment in bipolar affective disorder: implications for the bipolar diathesis

I. NICOL FERRIER and JILL M. THOMPSON
BJP 2002 180: 293-295. [Full Text]  

Case—control study of neurocognitive function in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder: an association with mania

J.T.O. CAVANAGH, M. VAN BECK, W. MUIR, and D.H.R. BLACKWOOD
BJP 2002 180: 320-326. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

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