Calafiore D, et al. – Researchers undertook this investigation to establish the value of cognitive performance as a genuine endophenotypic marker of familial risk for bipolar disorder (BD), by exploring cognition in first degree relatives (FDRs) aged 25 years or older. They concluded that FDRs showed better problem–solving performance than BD patients and a trend for enhanced performance when compared to healthy controls (HCs).

Methods

• For the purpose of this study, the researchers compared the cognitive performance of twenty-seven unaffected FDRs to forty-seven healthy controls (HCs) and twenty-eight BD patients utilizing the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB).

Results

• The consequences of this study demonstrated that FDRs had impaired verbal learning performance, as well as selective impairments on a measure of speed of processing; and a measure of spatial working memory compared to HC.