Periodic motor impairments in a case of 48-hour bipolar ultrarapid cycling before and under treatment with valproate.
Motor impairments of psychiatric patients can be assessed with digital recordings of handwriting tasks. The investigation of patients with bipolar affective disorders differentiates intraindividual changes related to the patient's fluctuating affective states. An unmedicated 67-year-old male with 48-hour bipolar ultrarapid cycling was investigated during 8 consecutive days of ultrarapid cycling and 4 weeks later, after remission under treatment with valproate. The handwriting skills of the patient followed the same rhythmic changes of the psychopathology in the first part of the study and a steady pattern in the second phase, after remission. Therefore, it can be assumed that the handwriting skills reflect a state marker of the disease. Poorer handwriting skills on the manic days, as compared to the depressive ones, support the hypothesis of a low arousal in manic patients.
Tigges
P
P
Department of Psychiatry, Section of Clinical Neurophysiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany. tp@psy.med.uni-muenchen.de
Juckel
G
G
Schröter
A
A
Möller
H J
HJ
Hegerl
U
U
D000368:Aged; D018692:Antimanic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D006236:Handwriting; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D014635:Valproic Acid / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D018692:Antimanic Agents; D014635:Valproic Acid