Publications by authors named "Rafael Assis da Silva"

Insight is greatly impaired in Bipolar Disorder (BD), especially during mania. Cognitive impairment is also present in BD. Despite that, few studies have investigated a possible association between these two aspects.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Although many studies have explored the effect of current affective episodes on insight into bipolar disorder, the potential interaction between current mood state and previous affective episodes has not been consistently investigated.

Objective: To explore the influence of dominant polarity, number of previous affective episodes and current affective state on insight in bipolar disorder patients in euthymia or mania.

Methods: A total of 101 patients with bipolar disorder were recruited for the study, including 58 patients in euthymia (30 with no defined predominant polarity and 28 with manic predominant polarity) and 43 in mania (26 with no defined predominant polarity and 17 with manic predominant polarity).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective:: This article aims to describe the adaptation and translation process of the Bush-Francis Catatonia Rating Scale (BFCRS) and its reduced version, the Bush-Francis Catatonia Screening Instrument (BFCSI) for Brazilian Portuguese, as well as its validation.

Methods:: Semantic equivalence processes included four steps: translation, back translation, evaluation of semantic equivalence and a pilot-study. Validation consisted of simultaneous applications of the instrument in Portuguese by two examiners in 30 catatonic and 30 non-catatonic patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Several studies on cognition in bipolar disorder (BD) have been developed on the last decade. Neuropsychological evaluation of attention in BD patients is fundamental since alterations in attention affect other cognitive functions. Evaluate if performance of BD patients in attention tests varies according to each phase of the disease and verify if there are differences in attention when comparing BD patients with normal controls.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Bipolar disorder (BD) is characterized by an alternated occurrence between acute mania episodes and depression or remission moments. The objective of this study is to analyze the information processing changes in BP (Bipolar Patients) (euthymia, depression and mania) during the oddball paradigm, focusing on the P300 component, an electric potential of the cerebral cortex generated in response to external sensorial stimuli, which involves more complex neurophysiological processes related to stimulus interpretation. Twenty-eight bipolar disorder patients (BP) (17 women and 11 men with average age of 32.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: In the last few decades, several tools for studying insight in bipolar disorders have been used. Olaya and colleagues developed the Insight Scale for Affective Disorders (ISAD), which consists of a scale measuring insight through hetero evaluation for patients with mood disorders. The objective of this work is to translate and adapt the original English version of the ISAD to Brazilian Portuguese (ISAD-BR) and to conduct an evaluation of its psychometric properties.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Some studies have indicated that the capacity of self-assessment of affective state is more compromised during mania than during depression. In the present study, we investigated whether the reliability of self-assessment in bipolar disorder varies as a function of actual affective state (i.e.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Prospective studies have shown that the course of bipolar disorder (BD) is characterized by the persistence of symptoms, predominantly depression, along most of the time. However, to our knowledge, no studies in Latin America have investigated it.

Objectives: To replicate international studies using a Brazilian sample to prospectively analyze treatment outcomes in the first year and to determine potential chronicity factors.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: There is increasing evidence that neurocognitive dysfunction is associated with the different states in Bipolar Disorder. Gamma coherence is strongly related to cognitive processes and cortico-cortical communication. This paper aims at shedding light on the relationship between cortical gamma coherence within bipolar patients and a control group during a prosaccadic attention task.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF