The British Journal of Psychiatry (2009) 194: 285-286. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.108.052639
© 2009 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
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SHORT REPORT

Stroop-test interference in bipolar disorder

Eugenia Kravariti, PhD, Katja Schulze, PhD, Fergus Kane, MSc, Sridevi Kalidindi, MBBS, MRCPsych, Elvira Bramon, MD, PhD, Muriel Walshe, PhD, Nicolette Marshall, PhD, Mei-Hua Hall, PhD, Anna Georgiades, MRCPsych, PhD, Colm McDonald, MRCPsych, PhD and Robin M. Murray, MD, DSc, FRCP, FRCPsych, FMedSci

Department of Psychiatry, NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK

Correspondence: Eugenia Kravariti, PhD, Box 58, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK. Email: e.kravariti{at}iop.kcl.ac.uk

Declaration of interest

None. Funding detailed in Acknowledgements.

We analysed Stroop (neuropsychological screening test) measures of response inhibition in 18 twin pairs discordant for bipolar I disorder compared with 17 healthy control pairs, as well as 40 singletons with bipolar disorder with psychotic features and a family history of psychosis, 46 of their first-degree relatives without bipolar disorder or psychosis and 48 controls. In both studies, individuals with bipolar disorder showed Stroop deficits and their first-degree relatives showed intact performance. In the twin patients, an interference score was associated with depressive symptoms. Having a first-degree relative with bipolar disorder, even a familial, psychotic form, did not confer risk for enhanced susceptibility to interference in our studies.