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Cognitive remediation: potential novel brain-based treatment for bipolar disorder in children and adolescents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2015

Daniel P. Dickstein ,
Grace K. Cushman ,
Kerri L. Kim ,
Alexandra B. Weissman  and
Ezra Wegbreit
Daniel P. Dickstein*
Affiliation:
PediMIND Program, Bradley Hospital, East Providence, Rhode Island, USA; Division of Child Psychiatry, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Grace K. Cushman
Affiliation:
PediMIND Program, Bradley Hospital, East Providence, Rhode Island, USA; Division of Child Psychiatry, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Kerri L. Kim
Affiliation:
PediMIND Program, Bradley Hospital, East Providence, Rhode Island, USA; Division of Child Psychiatry, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Alexandra B. Weissman
Affiliation:
PediMIND Program, Bradley Hospital, East Providence, Rhode Island, USA; Division of Child Psychiatry, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Ezra Wegbreit
Affiliation:
PediMIND Program, Bradley Hospital, East Providence, Rhode Island, USA; Division of Child Psychiatry, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
*
*Address for correspondence: Daniel P. Dickstein, MD, Pediatric Mood, Imaging, & NeuroDevelopment (PediMIND) Program, Bradley Hospital, 1011 Veterans Memorial Parkway, East Providence, RI 02915, USA.(Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Bipolar disorder (BD) is among the most impairing psychiatric disorders affecting children and adolescents, despite our best psychopharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatments. Cognitive remediation, defined as a behavioral intervention designed to improve cognitive functions so as to reduce psychiatric illness, is an emerging brain-based treatment approach that has thus far not been studied in pediatric BD. The present article reviews the basic principles of cognitive remediation, describes what is known about cognitive remediation in psychiatric disorders, and delineates potential brain/behavior alterations implicated in pediatric BD that might be targets for cognitive remediation. Emerging data show that cognitive remediation may be useful in children and adults with schizophrenia, ADHD, and anxiety disorders, and in adults with BD. Potential targets for cognitive remediation in pediatric BD include face processing, response inhibition, frustration, and cognitive flexibility. Further study is warranted to determine if cognitive remediation for these targets, or others, may serve as a novel, brain-based treatment for pediatric BD.

Keywords

childrenadolescentsbipolar disorderinterventioncognition.
Type
Review Articles
Information
CNS Spectrums , Volume 20 , Special Issue 4: Pediatric Neuroimaging , August 2015 , pp. 382 - 390
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2015 

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