Although numerous studies agree that bipolar patients demonstrate extensive cognitive deficits, it is still unclear to which extent these impairments persist across different mood states, including euthymia. Given that the emotional and cognitive processes are closely intertwined, we aimed to examine selective attention, cognitive inhibition, and social cognition within different emotional context in the group of remitted bipolar outpatients.

80 euthymic bipolar outpatients and 66 healthy volunteers matched for sex, age and education participated in the study. Internal State Scale and Barratt Impulsiveness Scale were used to assess self-reported affective states and trait impulsivity. Computerised versions of Colour-Word Stroop, Emotional Stroop, Affective Go/NoGo and Ekman Recognition of Facial Expression task were administered to assess selective attention, inhibition of cognitive control and social cognition.

Several cognitive deficits in selective attention, inhibition of cognitive control and social cognition tasks have been identified in the group of euthymic bipolar outpatients. They revealed worse recognition of negative, positive and neutral affect than controls. Besides cognitive disruptions which were reflected in longer reaction times and more erroneous performance to different emotional stimuli and in different emotional contexts, also trait impulsivity was considerably elevated in the group of bipolar euthymic outpatients.

Bipolar outpatients in our study demonstrated relatively marked impairments in cognitive functioning within different emotional contexts also during the euthymia. Applied neuropsychological inventory proved as useful tool for assessing specific cognitive impairments in bipolar mood disorder, and could contribute to more effective diagnosing and treatment of patients.