The Impact of Obesity on Cognitive Functioning in Euthymic Bipolar Patients: A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Study.

Objective: To determine the influence of body mass index (BMI) on cognition in euthymic bipolar patients and healthy matched controls in a post hoc study of 2 cross-sectional and longitudinal exploratory studies.

Method: A total sample of 121 individuals was examined, which included 52 euthymic bipolar disorder I or II patients (DSM-IV-TR criteria) and 69 healthy controls matched by age and gender, categorized in 2 subgroups in terms of body mass index (BMI-factor): normal weight (BMI: 18.5-24.

A preliminary longitudinal study on the cognitive and functional outcome of bipolar excellent lithium responders.

Background: Neurocognitive dysfunction in bipolar disorder represents a possible marker of underlying pathophysiology, but to date, most studies are cross-sectional and heterogeneous with regard to pharmacological treatments. In the present study we investigated the 6-year cognitive and functional outcome of a sample of euthymic excellent lithium responders (ELR).

Method: A total sample of twenty subjects was assessed at baseline and 6years later: ten diagnosed of bipolar disorder according to DSM-IV criteria and ten healthy matched controls.

Making sense of DSM-5 mania with depressive features.

Objective: The assessment of the depressive component during mania has become critical for the accurate diagnosis of mixed states, which were defined very narrowly in the past classification systems before Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.). The aim of this study was to compare socio-demographic, clinical and therapeutic characteristics, as well as clinical and functional outcomes, between manic patients with and without mixed features to validate the relevance of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.

The influence of cognitive reserve on psychosocial and neuropsychological functioning in bipolar disorder.

Cognitive reserve (CR) refers to the hypothesized capacity of an adult brain to cope with brain pathology in order to minimize symptomatology. CR was initially investigated in dementia and acute brain damage, but it is being applied to other neuropsychiatric conditions. The present study aims at examining the fit of this concept to a sample of euthymic bipolar patients compared with healthy controls in order to investigate the role of CR in predicting psychosocial and cognitive outcome in bipolar disorder (BD).

Functioning Assessment Short Test (FAST): validity and reliability in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Studies highlight that the functional deficits in different areas of a subject's life are an important characteristic that define adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). On the other hand, in the scientific literature, there are no evaluation instruments with psychometric studies concerning their reliability and validity for this variable in adults with ADHD. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Functioning Assessment Short Test (FAST), regarding its reliability and validity, as a measure of adult ADHD functioning.

Persistence of cognitive impairment and its negative impact on psychosocial functioning in lithium-treated, euthymic bipolar patients: a 6-year follow-up study.

Background: Previous cross-sectional studies report that cognitive impairment is associated with poor psychosocial functioning in euthymic bipolar patients. There is a lack of long-term studies to determine the course of cognitive impairment and its impact on functional outcome. Method A total of 54 subjects were assessed at baseline and 6 years later; 28 had DSM-IV TR bipolar I or II disorder (recruited, at baseline, from a Lithium Clinic Program) and 26 were healthy matched controls.