Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T19:39:27.393Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Language impairment in euthymic, elderly patients with bipolar disorder but no dementia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2008

Marcia Radanovic ,
Paula Villela Nunes ,
Wagner Farid Gattaz  and
Orestes Vicente Forlenza
Marcia Radanovic*
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Neuroscience (LIM 27), Department and Institute of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Brazil
Paula Villela Nunes
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Neuroscience (LIM 27), Department and Institute of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Brazil
Wagner Farid Gattaz
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Neuroscience (LIM 27), Department and Institute of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Brazil
Orestes Vicente Forlenza
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Neuroscience (LIM 27), Department and Institute of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Brazil
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Marcia Radanovic, Rua Cristiano Viana, 163 ap. 92, São Paulo – SP –Brazil05411-000. Phone: +55 11 30889708; Fax: +55 11 30889708. Email: [email protected]; [email protected].
Get access

Abstract

Background: Neurocognitive impairment is known to occur in euthymic bipolar patients, but language alterations have not been thoroughly investigated. The aim of this study is to examine the performance in language tests of a sample of elderly patients with bipolar disorder.

Methods: We studied 33 euthymic elderly patients with bipolar disorder but no dementia and 33 healthy individuals, matched for age and education, who were compared in terms of their CAMCOG global score and its subitems.

Results: The scores obtained in language-related abilities for patients and controls, respectively, were: language (total): 27.3 (1) and 28.5 (1), p < 0.0001; comprehension: 8.6 (0.5) and 8.9 (0.3), p = 0.006; production: 18.7 (1) and 19.6 (0.9), p = <0.0001; abstraction: 6.8 (1.1) and 7.3 (0.7), p = 0.016; verbal fluency: 16.3 (4.3) and 19.6 (4.1), p = 0.003.

Conclusion: A mild but significant impairment in language-related ability scores was detected when comparing patients and controls.

Keywords

bipolar disordercognitionlanguagemild cognitive impairmentelderly
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 20 , Issue 4 , August 2008 , pp. 687 - 696
Copyright
© International Psychogeriatric Association 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bearden, C. E., Hoffman, K. M. and Cannon, T. D. (2001). The neuropsychology and neuroanatomy of bipolar affective disorder: a critical review. Bipolar Disorders, 3, 106–150.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cavanagh, J. T. O., Van Beck, M., Muir, W. and Blackwood, D. H. R. (2002). Case-control study of neurocognitive function in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder: an association with mania. British Journal of Psychiatry, 180, 320–326.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, H. H. et al. (2004). Abnormal left superior temporal gyrus volumes in children and adolescents with bipolar disorder: a magnetic resonance imaging study. Neuroscience Letters, 363, 65–68.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Christensen, M. V., Kyvik, K. O. and Kessing, L. V. (2006). Cognitive function in unaffected twins discordant for affective disorder. Psychological Medicine, 36, 1119–1129.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Deckersbach, T. et al. (2005). Spontaneous and directed application of verbal learning strategies in bipolar disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Bipolar Disorders, 2, 166–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deckersbach, T. et al. (2006). Impaired recruitment of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and hippocampus during encoding in bipolar disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 59, 138–146.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Depp, C. A. and Jeste, D. V. (2004). Bipolar disorder in older adults: a critical review. Bipolar Disorders, 6, 343–367.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fleck, D. E. et al. (2003). Verbal memory in mania: effects of clinical state and task requirements. Bipolar Disorders, 5, 375–380.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gildengers, A. G. et al. (2004). Cognitive functioning in late-life bipolar disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 161, 736–738.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hamilton, M. (1960). A rating scale for depression. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, 23, 56–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harkavy-Friedman, J. M. et al. (2006). Are BPI and BPII suicide attempters distinct neuropsychologically? Journal of Affective Disorders, 94, 255–259.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harvey, P. D., Powchik, P., Parrella, M., White, L. and Davidson, M. (1997). Symptom severity and cognitive impairment in chronically hospitalised geriatric patients with affective disorders. British Journal of Psychiatry, 170, 369–374.Google ScholarPubMed
Kessing, L. V. and Nilsson, F. M. (2003). Increased risk of developing dementia in patients with major affective disorders compared to patients with other medical illnesses. Journal of Affective Disorders, 73, 261–269.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kessing, L. V. and Andersen, P. K. (2004). Does the risk of developing dementia increase with the number of episodes in patients with depressive disorder and in patients with bipolar disorder? Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, 75, 1662–1666.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lezak, M. D., Howieson, D. B. and Loring, D. W. (2004). Concept formation and reasoning. In:Lezak, M. D., Howieson, D. B. and Loring, D. W. (eds.), Neuropsychological Assessment, 4th edn (pp. 569–610). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Martinez-Aran, A. et al. (2004)a. Cognitive impairment in euthymic bipolar patients: implications for clinical and functional outcome. Bipolar Disorders, 6, 224–232.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martinez-Aran, A. et al. (2004)b. Cognitive function across manic or hypomanic, depressed, and euthymic states in bipolar disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 161, 262–270.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nunes, P. V., Forlenza, O. V. and Gattaz, W. F. (2007). Lithium may reduce the risk for Alzheimer's disease in elderly patients with bipolar disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 390, 359–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Obler, L. K. (2001). Development and loss: changes in the adult years. In:Berko-Gleason, J. (ed.), The Development of Language, 5th edn (pp. 455–488). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.Google Scholar
Olley, A. L., Malhi, G. S., Bachelor, J., Cahill, C. M., Mitchell, P. B. and Berk, M. (2005). Executive functioning and theory of mind in euthymic bipolar disorder. Bipolar Disorders, 7 (Suppl 5), 43–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robinson, L. J. et al. (2006). A meta-analysis of cognitive deficits in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 93, 105–115.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rocco, C. C. A. (2006). Controlled study of executive functions in bipolar disorder. Unpublished thesis. São Paulo: University of São Paulo School of Medicine (in Portuguese).Google Scholar
Roth, M. et al. (1986). CAMDEX: a standardised instrument for the diagnosis of mental disorder in the elderly with special reference to the early detection of dementia. British Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 698–709.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, G. E. and Ivnik, R. J. (2003). Normative neuropsychology. In:Petersen, R. C. (ed.) Mild Cognitive Impairment (pp. 63–88). New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strakowski, S. M., Delbello, M. P. and Adler, C. M. (2005). The functional neuroanatomy of bipolar disorder: a review of neuroimaging findings. Molecular Psychiatry, 10, 105–116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thompson, J. M. et al. (2005). Neurocognitive impairment in euthymic patients with bipolar affective disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 186, 32–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van Gorp, W. G., Altshuler, L., Theberge, D. C., Wilkins, J. and Dixon, W. (1998). Cognitive impairment in euthymic bipolar patients with and without prior alcohol dependence: a preliminary study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 55, 41–46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van Gorp, W. G., Altshuler, L., Theberge, D. C. and Mintz, J. (1999). Declarative and procedural memory in bipolar disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 46, 525–531.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
World Health Organization (1992). The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders. Geneva: World Health Organization.Google Scholar
Young, R. C., Biggs, J. T., Ziegler, V. E. and Meyer, D. A. (1978). A rating scale for mania: reliability, validity and sensitivity. British Journal of Psychiatry, 133, 429–435.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed