Neurocognition in first-degree healthy relatives (siblings) of bipolar affective disorder patients.
OBJECTIVE
Cognitive deficits have been presupposed to be endophenotypic markers in bipolar disorder, but few studies have ascertained the cognitive deficits in healthy relatives of bipolar disorder patients. The aim of the present study was to assess the cognitive functions of first-degree relatives of patients with bipolar disorder and compare them with healthy controls.


METHODS
Ten first-degree apparently healthy relatives of patients with bipolar disorder were compared with 10 age- and education-matched control subjects on computer-based cognitive tests.


RESULTS
As compared to the control group, the relatives group performed significantly poorly on tests for executive function and vigilance, while on the test for working memory the performance was not significantly different on most of the parameters.


CONCLUSIONS
Executive functioning and vigilance could be potential markers of the endophenotype in bipolar patients.
Trivedi
Jitendra K
JK
Department of Psychiatry, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, India. jktrivedi@hotmail.com
Goel
Dishanter
D
Dhyani
Mohan
M
Sharma
Sachin
S
Singh
Anand P
AP
Sinha
Pramod K
PK
Tandon
Rajul
R
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009949:Orientation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010641:Phenotype; D011340:Problem Solving; D011594:Psychometrics; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012016:Reference Values; D035781:Siblings