Department of Biochemistry, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil, and Mood Disorders Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Mood Disorders Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Laboratory of Molecular Psychiatry and Bipolar Disorders Program, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre
Department of Biochemistry, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, and Laboratory of Molecular Psychiatry and Bipolar Disorders Program, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre
Laboratory of Molecular Psychiatry and Bipolar Disorders Program, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre
Neuroscience Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southern Santa Catarina, Criciuma
Memory Centre, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre
Laboratory of Molecular Psychiatry and Bipolar Disorders Program, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, and Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
Correspondence: Lakshmi N. Yatham, Mood Disorders Centre, University of British Columbia, 2C7 – 2255 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, Canada V6T 2A1. Email: yatham{at}exchange.ubc.ca
None. Funding detailed in Acknowledgements.
|
|
|---|
Cognitive impairment has been well documented in bipolar disorder. However, specific aspects of cognition such as emotional memory have not been examined.
Aims
To investigate episodic emotional memory in bipolar disorder, as indicated by performance on an amygdala-related cognitive task.
Method
Twenty euthymic patients with bipolar disorder and 20 matched controls were recruited. Participants were shown a slide show of an emotionally neutral story, or a closely matched emotionally arousing story. One week later, participants were assessed on a memory-recall test.
Results
In contrast with the pattern observed in controls, patients with bipolar disorder had no enhancement of memory for the emotional content of the story (F=14.7, d.f.=1,36, P<0.001). The subjective perception of the emotional impact of the emotional condition was significantly different from that of the neutral condition in controls but not in people with bipolar disorder.
Conclusions
Our data suggest that the physiological pattern of enhanced memory retrieval for emotionally bound information is blunted in bipolar disorder.
|
|
|---|
|
|
|---|
We used the Heuer & Heisenberg test modified by Cahill & McGaugh4 and others6,8 to assess emotional memory. Participants with bipolar disorder were randomly assigned to be exposed to a neutral story (n=10) or a closely matched but more emotionally arousing story (n=10). The controls were assigned to the same version of the story as their matched patients. This assignment resulted in four groups: patient neutral or patient emotional, control neutral or control emotional. All procedures for the memory test were the same as previously described.4,6,7 All participants were given an individual explanation about study objectives and informed consent was obtained. The University Hospital Ethics Committee approved the protocol. The text with the explanation about the study was the same as that used by Cahill & McGaugh4 and others6,8 and it was read to individuals in order to ensure that all participants were informed in the same manner. Participants were told that the story they would watch might be emotionally arousing and that they would be recalled for another assessment a week later.
The stories were presented individually as a narrated slide show (comprising 11 slides, lasting a total of about 10 min), that could be neutral or emotional. Both stories were separable into three phases: the first phase including slides 1–4, the second phase including slides 5–8, and the final phase including slides 9–11. The emotional and neutral stories differed primarily in slides 5–8, when the emotional elements were introduced in the emotional story, which will be referred to from here on as phase 2. In the neutral version, no emotional element was introduced; the content was neutral across the three phases. Because the visual elements used in both stories were identical, differences in retention cannot be attributed to intrinsic differences in the visual elements. In both stories, a mother takes her young son to visit his father at the hospital where he works. In the neutral version, the son watches the staff conduct a practice disaster drill. In the emotional version, the boy is severely hurt in a car accident.
Immediately after viewing the slide show, each participant was asked to rate on a 0–10 scale how emotional they thought the story was. One week later participants were assessed on a memory-recall test. The testing session consisted of a questionnaire containing 76 multiple choice questions. The questionnaire consisted of 5–8 questions for each slide, and these were presented in the same order as the story. The questions were presented only once and the participant was asked to choose one answer and then go on to the next one.
Statistics
Statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for
Social Sciences version 13.0 for Windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA).
Data for the self-rating emotional scale and for the multiple choice questions
(percentage of correct answers) are shown as a mean (s.d.). A multivariate
analysis of variance (MANOVA) with repeated measures was used to analyse the
dependent variable: the percentage of correct answers in the three story
phases from the multiple choice question test (memory recall). The MANOVA with
repeated measures included an effect for group (bipolar
disorderxcontrol), an effect for condition (neutral xemotional)
and an effect for phase (three phases). We also examined an interaction of
phasexcondition as well as an interaction of
phasexgroupxcondition. A post hoc ANOVA was carried out
to examine differences within groups (neutral and emotional) in the percentage
of correct answers between phases of the narrated story followed by post
hoc Tukey test as appropriate. The differences in self-rating emotional
scale scores between the groups in various phases were analysed using ANOVA
and post hoc Tukey tests. Continuous variables were tested using
independent sample t-tests, as indicated. Dichotomous demographic
variables were tested using chi-square tests. All tests were two-tailed with
an
of 0.05 and P<0.05 was considered to indicate
statistical significance.
|
|
|---|
Demographic and clinical characteristics are shown in Table 1. Of the patients, 14 were female and 6 were male; their age ranged from 19 to 66 years (mean=44.5) and their mean educational level was 10.8 years. The mean length of illness of the patients was 18.8 years. They were closely matched by gender, age and schooling years to 20 healthy controls whose age ranged from 18 to 65 years (mean=42.9) and whose mean educational level was 12.1 years.
|
View this table: [in a new window] |
Table 1 Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of participants in the
neutral stimulus and emotional stimulus groups
|
As expected, the overall percentage of correct answers was lower in the patients than in the matched healthy controls (t=3.3, d.f.=38, P=0.002) (Fig.1). The MANOVA with repeated measures showed an effect of phase (F=13.5, d.f.=2,72, P<0.001), effect of group (i.e. control v. bipolar disorder) (F=14.7, d.f.=1,36, P<0.001), an interaction of a phasexcondition (F=4.1, d.f.=2,72, P=0.02) and an interaction of phasex groupxcondition (F=2.4, d.f.=6,72, P=0.03). When compared directly with controls, patients performed poorly regarding the enhancement of memory for emotional events, as indicated by scores in phase 2 of the emotional version of the story (F=5.2, d.f.=3,36, P=0.01). In addition, there was a significant difference in perception of the emotional impact of the stories between groups as indicated by significant differences in emotional impact self-rating scale scores (F=5.6, d.f.=3,36, P=0.003).
![]() View larger version (8K): [in a new window] [as a PowerPoint slide] |
Fig. 1. Difference in overall recall performance (percentage of correct answers
between patients (n=20) and healthy controls (n=20)).
*Significant difference between patients and controls
(t=3.3, d.f.=38, P=0.002).
|
![]() View larger version (15K): [in a new window] [as a PowerPoint slide] |
Fig. 2 (a) Recall performance of controls exposed to the emotional (n=10)
and neutral (n=10) condition; (b) emotional impact of the neutral and
emotional version of the story for controls (self-rating emotional scale
scores). (a) *Significant difference in percentage of correct
answers across phases in the emotional condition (P=0.008), but not
in the neutral condition (P=0.35). (b) *Significant
difference in the subjective emotional impact of the story between neutral and
emotional version (P=0.007).
|
![]() View larger version (15K): [in a new window] [as a PowerPoint slide] |
Fig. 3 (a) Recall performance of patients with bipolar disorder exposed to the
emotional (n=10) and neutral (n=10) condition; (b) emotional
impact of the neutral and emotional version of the story for patients
(self-rating emotional scale scores). (a) No significant difference in
percentage of correct answers across phases in both the neutral
(P=0.1) and the emotional condition (P=0.27). (b) No
significant difference in the subjective emotional impact of the story between
neutral and emotional version (P=0.23).
|
|
|
|---|
As expected, the overall recall rate in participants with bipolar disorder was significantly lower compared with controls. However, in contrast to the findings in healthy controls and our hypothesis, our results showed that the physiological pattern of enhanced memory retrieval for emotionally bound information was blunted in patients with bipolar disorder. These findings were obtained from patients with bipolar disorder on medication, which is a potential source of bias. Drugs used to treat bipolar disorder may hamper different cognitive systems, and may impair emotional memory as well. However, it is unlikely that a non-specific flattening of cognitive function as a whole would account for the higher rates of mislabelling of neutral information as emotional, which was found in participants with bipolar disorder. Further, people with bipolar disorder perceived the neutral story as more emotionally charged, as indicated by no difference in scores on the visual analogue self-report scale between the neutral and the emotional versions. Since patients with bipolar disorder perceived the neutral content as more emotional and similar to the emotional version, one would have expected an enhancement of memory in phase 2 in both versions. However, the recall rate was similar in all phases in both versions for these individuals. This would suggest that the enhanced perception of emotional impact did not translate into enhancement of memory formation.
Amygdala-dependent memory task
When interpreting the results, the first consideration must be the
neurocircuitry involved in this task. We used the Heuer & Reisburg
task9 modified by
Cahill &
McGaugh4 and
others,6-8
which compares memory for emotionally arousing v. neutral
information. It is well-documented that the memory for an emotionally arousing
event is better than for neutral
stimuli.10,11
There is evidence that the amygdala plays a crucial role in the enhancement of
the strength of long-term memory for emotional
events.12 Further,
previous studies that have used the modified Heuer & Reisburg test have
shown that enhancement in memory associated with the emotional content is
highly dependent on amygdala
function.6 For
instance, memory enhancement induced by emotional arousal was absent:
These findings provide evidence that the amygdala might be a critical locus for emotional enhancement in memory in this task.6,11 Furthermore, in healthy volunteers, the degree of activity in the left amygdala during encoding was predictive of subsequent memory and was related to the emotional intensity of the experience.14 Interestingly, patients with Alzheimer's disease with moderate overall memory impairment did perform well in this test, and the extent of memory enhancement for emotionally charged content was similar in those with Alzheimer's disease and in controls.7 Therefore, the poor performance of participants with bipolar disorder on this task in the present study suggests that patients with bipolar disorder have emotional memory deficits which may be related to a dysfunctional amygdala circuitry.
Amygdala circuitry in bipolar disorder
Our findings are consistent with previous literature suggesting
abnormalities in amygdala circuitry in bipolar disorder. For instance, many of
the symptoms experienced by patients with bipolar disorder would appear to be
associated with abnormalities in emotion
processing.15,16
Further, emotional hyper-reactivity is a fundamental mood characteristic of
manic and mixed
states.17 Moreover,
structures known to take part in the emotional processing
circuitry4,12
such as prefrontal cortex, subgenual anterior cingulate gyrus, the amygdala
and ventral striatum have been reported to have structural and functional
alterations in people with bipolar
disorder.18 Of
these, the amygdala is critically involved in modulating emotional memory,
attention and
perception.19
Interestingly, enlarged amygdala volumes have been reported in structural
imaging studies in bipolar
disorder.20
Abnormal age-related increases in the amygdala volume have been found in
adolescents with bipolar
disorder.21 Also,
magnetic resonance imaging studies have reported enlarged amygdala volumes in
bipolar disorder.22
In addition to structural changes in this circuitry, functional neuroimaging
studies indicate underactivity of the dorsal and ventral prefrontal cortex,
and increased activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate,
amygdala23,24
and thalamus25
during mood episodes. Increased metabolism within the right amygdala has been
reported in people with bipolar disorder during episodes of depression.
However, most of the functional imaging studies that investigated the activity
of amygdala and temporal lobe in emotional processing in bipolar disorder used
tests of facial expression recognition, but did not include emotional memory
paradigms. The available data from these studies demonstrated that patients
with bipolar disorder experiencing depressed or manic episodes identify facial
expressions less accurately than do euthymic patients or healthy comparison
individuals.25
Another study showed that people with bipolar disorder in depressed or
euthymic states present increased subcortical and ventral prefrontal cortical
responses to both positive and negative emotional facial expressions compared
with healthy controls and people with major
depression.26 In
euthymic patients, enhanced
disgust27 and
impaired identification of fearful facial expressions have been
demonstrated.28 The
latter study also reported increased amygdala and reduced prefrontal cortical
activation in response to facial expressions of fear.
Interestingly, the previously observed increased amygdala volume and increased activity of temporal lobe and amygdala during facial recognition tasks in euthymic individuals with bipolar disorder22,25,26,29 did not translate into increased emotional memory formation in our study, as we expected. This is consistent with previous evidence that indicates that facial expression recognition and emotional memory formation require different neuroanatomical pathways.13,30 For instance, a study of patients with amygdala damage due to herpes simplex encephalitis suggested that recognition of facial emotion in adults does not have an absolute dependence on the amygdala.30 Further, patients with bilateral amygdala damage who have had a temporal lobectomy had superior fear face perception but their ability to form enhanced emotional memories in the Heuer & Reisburg test13 was severely compromised. Taken together, it would appear that the enlarged volumes and enhanced activity of the amygdala in bipolar disorder indicate an oversensitive but dysfunctional neural system for emotional processing.
Perception of emotional stimuli
Emotion, through the amygdala, can influence encoding, attention and
perception.19
Although the memory test used here assessed the memory formation process as a
whole, we further investigated the perception of the emotional content of the
stories, as indicated by self-rating scores. Participants with bipolar
disorder reacted differently than controls to the emotional impact of the
stories. There was no difference between the scores for the emotional and for
the neutral stimuli in self-report of emotional impact among patients, whereas
for controls it was clearly different. This may suggest that people with
bipolar disorder may have an oversensitive emotional reaction to facts, which
is not functional because it can be restrictive for the ability to focus on
the real emotional content. The enhanced emotional memory is clearly adaptive,
because emotional stimuli are generally more important for
survival.12
Previous studies have reported that people with bipolar disorder are less able
to accurately recognise emotions in human faces than healthy controls, which
was thought to be associated with their impaired social
skills.25 Our
results showed that this altered perception in people with bipolar disorder
might not be restricted to facial expressions as their perception for facts in
a simple story was also altered. One can speculate that this altered
perception may lead individuals to remember neutral stimuli as emotional, thus
making them more susceptible to interpreting life events as traumatic. This is
consistent with the literature showing that stressful life events are
associated with mood episodes.
|
|
|---|
|
|
|---|
|
|
|---|
Read all eLetters
eLetters:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||