Citation

Bauer IE, Diniz BS, Meyer TD, Teixeira AL, Sanches M, Spiker D, Zunta-Soares G, Soares JC. J. Affect. Disord. 2017; 225: 585-592.

Affiliation

University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, McGovern Medical School, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, 77054 Houston, TX, United States.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jad.2017.08.067

PMID

28886499

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Impulsivity is a well-established trait of bipolar disorder (BD) that persists across mood phases. It is, however, still unknown whether, in BD, impulsivity remains stable or varies in intensity over the lifespan. This cross-sectional study compared impulsive behavior in older euthymic BD patients and healthy individuals using a range of self-rating and behavioral measures of impulsivity.

METHODS: 28 BD patients (56.07 ± 4.08 years, 16 women) and 15 healthy controls (HC; 55.1 ± 3.95 years, 6 women) were administered the Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS) and selected tasks of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Batter (CANTAB) reflecting impulsivity. Multivariate analysis of variance controlled for age compared impulsivity measures across BD and HC.

RESULTS: BD patients displayed poor decision making, risk taking, and increased delay aversion. Other measures of impulsivity such as response inhibition, sustained cognitive control, and BIS scores were, overall, comparable between BD and HC.

CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary findings suggest that, in BD, aspects of impulsivity related to reward-based decision making persist into late adulthood. Large scale, longitudinal studies are needed to evaluate the relationship of age to impulsivity over time, and explore the link between impulsivity and illness progression in elderly individuals with BD.

Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Bipolar disorder; Cognitive control; Impulsivity; Old age; Reward