Neuropsychological performance in pediatric bipolar disorder.
BACKGROUND
Growing awareness of childhood bipolar disorder necessitates further cognitive neuroscience research to determine unique developmental differences between pediatric and adult onset bipolar disorder. We sought to examine whether neuropsychological function in children with bipolar disorder resembles that in adults with the illness and to extend our knowledge about cognitive function in pediatric bipolar disorder.


METHODS
We administered a computerized neuropsychological test battery known as the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery to a sample of 21 children and adolescents with bipolar disorder and compared them with 21 age- and gender-matched controls.


RESULTS
In comparison to controls, children with bipolar disorder were impaired on measures of attentional set-shifting and visuospatial memory. Post hoc analyses in pediatric bipolar disorder subjects did not show significant associations between neuropsychological performance and manic symptomatology or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder comorbidity.


CONCLUSIONS
Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery data presented here in pediatric bipolar disorder fit well within the broader framework of known neurocognitive deficits in adult bipolar disorder. Our pediatric bipolar disorder subjects demonstrated selective deficiencies in attentional set-shifting and visuospatial memory. Our work suggests altered ventrolateral prefrontal cortex function, especially when linked to other lesion and neuroimaging studies.
Dickstein
Daniel P
DP
National Institute of Mental Health Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-1255, USA.
Treland
Julia E
JE
Snow
Joseph
J
McClure
Erin B
EB
Mehta
Mona S
MS
Towbin
Kenneth E
KE
Pine
Daniel S
DS
Leibenluft
Ellen
E
D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000150:complications*; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000150:complications*; D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013028:Space Perception; D014796:Visual Perception