Transdiagnostic comparison of visual working memory capacity in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia
Abstract Background Impaired working memory is a core cognitive deficit in both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Its study might yield crucial insights into the underpinnings of both disorders on the cognitive and neurophysiological level. Visual working memory capacity is a particularly promisin...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2021-04-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Bipolar Disorders |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40345-020-00217-x |
| _version_ | 1818641499239219200 |
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| author | Catherine V. Barnes-Scheufler Caroline Passow Lara Rösler Jutta S. Mayer Viola Oertel Sarah Kittel-Schneider Silke Matura Andreas Reif Robert A. Bittner |
| author_facet | Catherine V. Barnes-Scheufler Caroline Passow Lara Rösler Jutta S. Mayer Viola Oertel Sarah Kittel-Schneider Silke Matura Andreas Reif Robert A. Bittner |
| author_sort | Catherine V. Barnes-Scheufler |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Impaired working memory is a core cognitive deficit in both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Its study might yield crucial insights into the underpinnings of both disorders on the cognitive and neurophysiological level. Visual working memory capacity is a particularly promising construct for such translational studies. However, it has not yet been investigated across the full spectrum of both disorders. The aim of our study was to compare the degree of reductions of visual working memory capacity in patients with bipolar disorder (PBD) and patients with schizophrenia (PSZ) using a paradigm well established in cognitive neuroscience. Methods 62 PBD, 64 PSZ, and 70 healthy controls (HC) completed a canonical visual change detection task. Participants had to encode the color of four circles and indicate after a short delay whether the color of one of the circles had changed or not. We estimated working memory capacity using Pashler’s K. Results Working memory capacity was significantly reduced in both PBD and PSZ compared to HC. We observed a small effect size (r = .202) for the difference between HC and PBD and a medium effect size (r = .370) for the difference between HC and PSZ. Working memory capacity in PSZ was also significantly reduced compared to PBD with a small effect size (r = .201). Thus, PBD showed an intermediate level of impairment. Conclusions These findings provide evidence for a gradient of reduced working memory capacity in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, with PSZ showing the strongest degree of impairment. This underscores the importance of disturbed information processing for both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Our results are compatible with the cognitive manifestation of a neurodevelopmental gradient affecting bipolar disorder to a lesser degree than schizophrenia. They also highlight the relevance of visual working memory capacity for the development of both behavior- and brain-based transdiagnostic biomarkers. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T23:28:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-832291c16e3048dda54b56a62b945677 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2194-7511 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T23:28:08Z |
| publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Bipolar Disorders |
| spelling | doaj.art-832291c16e3048dda54b56a62b9456772022-12-21T22:11:57ZengSpringerOpenInternational Journal of Bipolar Disorders2194-75112021-04-019111210.1186/s40345-020-00217-xTransdiagnostic comparison of visual working memory capacity in bipolar disorder and schizophreniaCatherine V. Barnes-Scheufler0Caroline Passow1Lara Rösler2Jutta S. Mayer3Viola Oertel4Sarah Kittel-Schneider5Silke Matura6Andreas Reif7Robert A. Bittner8Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine, and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine, and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine, and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe UniversityDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine, and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine, and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine, and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine, and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine, and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe UniversityAbstract Background Impaired working memory is a core cognitive deficit in both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Its study might yield crucial insights into the underpinnings of both disorders on the cognitive and neurophysiological level. Visual working memory capacity is a particularly promising construct for such translational studies. However, it has not yet been investigated across the full spectrum of both disorders. The aim of our study was to compare the degree of reductions of visual working memory capacity in patients with bipolar disorder (PBD) and patients with schizophrenia (PSZ) using a paradigm well established in cognitive neuroscience. Methods 62 PBD, 64 PSZ, and 70 healthy controls (HC) completed a canonical visual change detection task. Participants had to encode the color of four circles and indicate after a short delay whether the color of one of the circles had changed or not. We estimated working memory capacity using Pashler’s K. Results Working memory capacity was significantly reduced in both PBD and PSZ compared to HC. We observed a small effect size (r = .202) for the difference between HC and PBD and a medium effect size (r = .370) for the difference between HC and PSZ. Working memory capacity in PSZ was also significantly reduced compared to PBD with a small effect size (r = .201). Thus, PBD showed an intermediate level of impairment. Conclusions These findings provide evidence for a gradient of reduced working memory capacity in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, with PSZ showing the strongest degree of impairment. This underscores the importance of disturbed information processing for both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Our results are compatible with the cognitive manifestation of a neurodevelopmental gradient affecting bipolar disorder to a lesser degree than schizophrenia. They also highlight the relevance of visual working memory capacity for the development of both behavior- and brain-based transdiagnostic biomarkers.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40345-020-00217-xBipolar disorderSchizophreniaCognitive dysfunctionWorking memory capacityAttention |
| spellingShingle | Catherine V. Barnes-Scheufler Caroline Passow Lara Rösler Jutta S. Mayer Viola Oertel Sarah Kittel-Schneider Silke Matura Andreas Reif Robert A. Bittner Transdiagnostic comparison of visual working memory capacity in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia International Journal of Bipolar Disorders Bipolar disorder Schizophrenia Cognitive dysfunction Working memory capacity Attention |
| title | Transdiagnostic comparison of visual working memory capacity in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia |
| title_full | Transdiagnostic comparison of visual working memory capacity in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia |
| title_fullStr | Transdiagnostic comparison of visual working memory capacity in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Transdiagnostic comparison of visual working memory capacity in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia |
| title_short | Transdiagnostic comparison of visual working memory capacity in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia |
| title_sort | transdiagnostic comparison of visual working memory capacity in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia |
| topic | Bipolar disorder Schizophrenia Cognitive dysfunction Working memory capacity Attention |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40345-020-00217-x |
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