The different performances on verbal memory and executive functions in patients with Bipolar I and Bipolar II Disorder

• Main Authors: Min-hsien Hsu, 許民憲
• Other Authors: Ru-Band Lu
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2008
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/18795392116752770622

碩士 === 國立成功大學 === 行為醫學研究所 === 96 === Background: Previous studies found that psychosocial and occupational dysfunctions during the remission period among patients with Bipolar Disorder (BP) were associated with neuropsychological impairments, especially pertaining to executive function and verbal memory disabilities. Clinically, Bipolar I Disorder (BP-I) and Bipolar II Disorder (BP-II) were the most severe and frequently observed subtypes. Due to their distinct pathological characteristics, rehabilitation and intervention programs should be designed accordingly on the basis of the subtypes’ neuropsychological weaknesses to achieve a better treatment outcome. Currently however, reference literatures were limited. Thus, the present study aimed to further examine the different neuropsychological functions in patients with BP-I and BP-II. Method: All subjects were recruited from National Cheng Kung University Hospital. The Schedule for Affective and Schizophrenia-Lifetime Chinese version (SADS-L) were assessed to confirm diagnoses. When the patients’ mood symptoms were stabilized neuropsychological tests were administered. Results: Sixty-three patients diagnosed with BP participated in this study. The results showed that BP-I patients performed significantly worse on the number of categories completed in the Wisconsin Card Sorting test and the recognition total score of Logical Memory II compared to patients with BP-II. Conclusion: Overall, our results indicated that BP-I patients had relatively poorer performances on verbal memory encoding and a greater tendency to forget faster than BP-II patients; in regards to abstractive reasoning, either strategy formulation or planning abilities were comparatively worse in BP-I patients. Thus, clinical practitioners should keep in mind the distinctive characteristics of the two BP subtypes when constructing treatment or rehabilitation programs.