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Relational memory and hippocampal function in psychotic bipolar disorder.
Suzanne N Avery1, Lisa E Williams, Austin A Woolard
1Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
|September 12, 2013
Summary
Psychotic bipolar disorder patients do not show relational memory deficits, unlike schizophrenia. Hippocampal function and volume were similar between psychotic bipolar disorder and controls, indicating distinct memory profiles in psychosis.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Cognitive Psychology
Background:
- Schizophrenia and psychotic bipolar disorder share genetic and histological similarities.
- Interneuron dysfunction in the hippocampus is implicated in schizophrenia, affecting relational memory.
- Relational memory deficits are common in schizophrenia but unexamined in psychotic bipolar disorder.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate relational memory performance in psychotic bipolar disorder.
- To test the hypothesis that psychotic bipolar disorder involves relational memory deficits.
- To compare hippocampal function and volume in psychotic bipolar disorder and controls.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a transitive inference (TI) paradigm to assess relational memory.
- Employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine hippocampal activity.
- Assessed hippocampal volumes via manual segmentation.
Main Results:
- No significant differences in TI performance were found between psychotic bipolar disorder patients and controls.
- Hippocampal volume and recruitment during recognition memory were comparable in both groups.
- A positive correlation between hippocampal volume and relational memory performance was observed in both patients and controls.
Conclusions:
- Relational memory impairments are not a shared characteristic of psychotic bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
- Affective and non-affective psychoses may have distinct cognitive profiles.
- Hippocampal integrity is associated with relational memory in both healthy individuals and those with psychotic bipolar disorder.
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