The effect of processing speed on cognitive functioning in patients with familial bipolar I disorder and their unaffected relatives.

Background: Despite increasing evidence of cognitive dysfunctions in bipolar I disorder, there is no specific neuropsychological profile of the disorder.

Sampling And Method: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of processing speed on other cognitive functions in a population-based sample of 32 familial bipolar I disorder patients, their 40 unaffected first-degree relatives and 55 controls. A neuropsychological test battery was administered to all participants, and the effect of processing speed on other cognitive functions was analyzed with the digit symbol subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised both in within- and between-group comparisons.

Short cognitive behavioral therapy and cognitive training for adults with ADHD - a randomized controlled pilot study.

In clinical practice, a growing need exists for effective non-pharmacological treatments of adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Here, we present the results of a pilot study of 10 adults with ADHD participating in short-term individual cognitive- behavioral therapy (CBT), 9 adults participating in cognitive training (CT), and 10 controls. Self-report questionnaires, independent evaluations, and computerized neurocognitive testing were collected before and after the treatments to evaluate change.

The effect of seasons and seasonal variation on neuropsychological test performance in patients with bipolar I disorder and their first-degree relatives.

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD) patients have cognitive deficits that may remain in the euthymic phase. Similar although milder cognitive deficits may be found in their first-degree relatives. We wanted to analyze whether the self-report of seasonality, the season when individuals were tested or the circadian preference influences the neuropsychological test performance measured in the familial BD, type I, patients and their healthy first-degree relatives.

Cognitive functioning of bipolar I patients and relatives from families with or without schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.

Background: Bipolar I disorder patients show cognitive impairments, and genetic vulnerability to other psychotic disorders may modify these impairments. We set out to assess cognitive functions and estimate their heritability in bipolar I disorder patients (bipolar families) and unaffected relatives in a group of families with bipolar I disorder only and in another group of families with both bipolar I disorder and schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (mixed families).

Methods: A neuropsychological test battery was administered to 20 bipolar patients and 36 relatives from bipolar families, 19 bipolar patients and 28 relatives from mixed families and 55 controls, all representing population-based samples.

Association of a nonsynonymous variant of DAOA with visuospatial ability in a bipolar family sample.

Background: Bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are hypothesized to share some genetic background.

Methods: In a two-phase study, we evaluated the effect of five promising candidate genes for psychotic disorders, DAOA, COMT, DTNBP1, NRG1, and AKT1, on bipolar spectrum disorder, psychotic disorder, and related cognitive endophenotypes in a Finnish family-based sample ascertained for bipolar disorder.

Results: In initial screening of 362 individuals from 63 families, we found only marginal evidence for association with the diagnosis-based dichotomous classification.

Heritability of cognitive functions in families with bipolar disorder.

Bipolar disorder is highly heritable. Cognitive dysfunctions often observed in bipolar patients and their unaffected relatives implicate that these impairments may be associated with genetic predisposition to bipolar disorder and thus fulfill the criteria of a valid endophenotype for the disorder. However, the most fundamental criterion, their heritability, has not been directly studied in any bipolar population.

Association of distinct allelic haplotypes of DISC1 with psychotic and bipolar spectrum disorders and with underlying cognitive impairments.

Bipolar disorder (BPD) and schizophrenia (SCZ) have at least a partially convergent aetiology and thus may share genetic susceptibility loci. Multiple lines of evidence emphasize the role of disrupted-in-schizophrenia-1 (DISC1) gene in psychotic disorders such as SCZ. We monitored the association of allelic variants of translin-associated factor X (TSNAX)/DISC1 gene cluster using 13 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 723 members of 179 Finnish BPD families.

Cognitive functioning in patients with familial bipolar I disorder and their unaffected relatives.

Background: Impairments in verbal learning and memory, executive functions and attention are manifest in some euthymic patients with bipolar disorder (BPD). However, evidence is sparse on their putative role as aetiologically important genetic vulnerability markers for the disorder. This population-based study examined the cognitive functions of affected and unaffected individuals in families with BPD.