Objective: Patients with bipolar disorder often suffer from persistent cognitive impairments. However, it is not described fully that these impairments are associated with episodes of the disorder. We aimed to study cognitive functions in same bipolar patients during their manic episodes and remission periods
Method: Nine (9) male patients were recruited in this study. The mean age of the patients was 23.3. Bipolar disorder was diagnosed with Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Clinical Version (SCID-I). Cognitive functions were evaluated during patients manic episodes and when they were in remission at least 3 months. Patients with a score of Hamilton Depression Scale ?8 and the patients with a score of Young Mania Scale ?6 were evaluated as in remission. Cognitive functions of the patients were measured by Serial Digit Learning Test (SDLT), Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT), Cancellation Test (CT) and Stroop Test (ST).
Results: In patients with manic episode, duration scores of stroop test (1st, 2nd and 5th cards) and CT random figures were longer than in remission. The SDLT scores of manic patients were lower than patients in remission.
Conclusion: These results show that there are impairments in attention, memory and learning functions during manic episode when compared with remission. Future studies should be designed with larger samples, which control the drug use.
Key words: bipolar disorder, remission, mania, cognitive functions
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