Executive deficits in euthymic bipolar I disorder were examined in a fractionated manner based on the "Supervisory Attentional System" (SAS) model, and the relationship between the degree of executive impairment and the demographic and clinical characteristics of bipolar I participants was explored. A battery of neurocognitive tests capturing specific components of executive function was admini...

Little is known about the nature of the relation between information-processing biases and affective traits in bipolar disorder. The present study was designed to investigate whether attentional biases are evident in persons diagnosed with bipolar disorder when they are in a positive mood state, and whether biases are related to indices of emotion regulation and to prior history of mood episode...

BACKGROUND Despite a large scientific literature on early clinical precursors of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and unipolar depression, few data are available on axis I disorders preceding the adult onset of these illnesses. SAMPLING AND METHODS Disorders before the age of 18 years were retrospectively assessed with a structured interview in 3 groups of consecutive adult inpatients with DSM...

BACKGROUND The "monocyte-T-cell theory of mood disorders" regards neuroinflammation, i.e. marked activation of microglia, as a driving force in bipolar disorder. Microglia activation can be visualized in vivo using [(11)C]-(R)-PK11195 PET. Indirect evidence suggests the hippocampus as a potential focus of neuroinflammation in bipolar disorder. We aim to determine if there is increased [(11)C]-(...

Bipolar disorder especially the most severe type (type I), has a strong genetic component. Family studies suggest that a small number of genes of modest effect are involved in this disorder. Family-based studies have identified a number of chromosomal regions linked to bipolar disorder, and progress is currently being made in identifying positional candidate genes within those regions. A number...

OBJECTIVE The prevalence of lifetime alcohol abuse and/or dependence (alcoholism) in patients with bipolar disorder has been reported to be higher than in all other axis I psychiatric diagnoses. This study examined gender-specific relationships between alcoholism and bipolar illness, which have previously received little systematic study. METHOD The prevalence of lifetime alcoholism in 267 ou...

Treatments for brain dysfunction have relied traditionally on medication-based approaches. Non-invasive transcranial electric stimulation (tES) approaches such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) offer an alternative approach for psychiatric treatment. In this approach, low level (1–2 mA) currents are applied over appropriate...

Treatments for brain dysfunction have relied traditionally on medication-based approaches. Non-invasive transcranial electric stimulation (tES) approaches such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) offer an alternative approach for psychiatric treatment. In this approach, low level (1–2 mA) currents are applied over appropriate...

Diagnostic confusion sometimes exists between bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder (BPD). To improve the recognition of bipolar disorder researchers have identified nondiagnostic factors that point toward bipolar disorder. One such factor is the presence of a family history of bipolar disorder. In the current report from the Rhode Island Methods to Improve Diagnostic Assessment ...

BACKGROUND Screening scales for bipolar disorder including the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) and Bipolar Spectrum Diagnostic Scale (BSDS) have been plagued by high false positive rates confounded by presence of borderline personality disorder. This study examined the accuracy of these scales for detecting bipolar disorder among patients referred for eating disorders and explored the possibi...