title: Neuroanatomical and neuropsychological features of euthymic patients with bipolar disorder.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Previous studies reported that the severity of cognitive deficits in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder (BD) increases with the duration of illness and postulated that progressive neuronal loss or shrinkage and white matter changes may be at the origin of this phenomenon. To explore this issue, the authors performed a case-control study including detailed neuropsychological and magnetic resonance imaging analyses in 17 euthymic elderly patients with BD and 17 healthy individuals.
  
  
  METHODS
  Neuropsychological evaluation concerned working memory, episodic memory, processing speed, and executive functions. Volumetric estimates of the amygdala, hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex were obtained using both voxel-based and region of interest morphometric methods. Periventricular and deep white matter were assessed semiquantitatively. Differences in cognitive performances and structural data between BD and comparison groups were analyzed using paired t-test or analysis of variance. Wilcoxon test was used in the absence of normal distribution.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with healthy individuals, patients with BD obtained significantly lower performances in processing speed, working memory, and episodic memory but not in executive functions. Morphometric analyses did not show significant volumetric or white matter differences between the two groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results revealed impairment in verbal memory, working memory, and processing speed in euthymic older adults with BD. These cognitive deficits are comparable both in terms of affected functions and size effects to those previously reported in younger cohorts with BD. Both this observation and the absence of structural brain abnormalities in our cohort do not support a progressively evolving neurotoxic effect in BD.
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, University Hospitals of Geneva and Faculty of Medicine, Switzerland. Christophe.Delaloye@hcuge.ch
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Delaloye
authors.forename: Fabienne
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: de Bilbao
authors.forename: Guenaël
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Moy
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baudois
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: Leticia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Campos
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Canuto
authors.forename: Umberto
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Giardini
authors.forename: Armin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: von Gunten
authors.forename: Raluca Ioana
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Stancu
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Scheltens
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lazeyras
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Millet
authors.forename: Panteleimon
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Giannakopoulos
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gold
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015984:Causality; D003071:Cognition; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009929:Organ Size; D011930:Reaction Time; D013557:Switzerland / Q000453:epidemiology; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013997:Time Factors