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The effect of overweight/obesity on cognitive function in euthymic individuals with bipolar disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2020

C.Y. Yim ,
J.K. Soczynska ,
S.H. Kennedy ,
H.O. Woldeyohannes ,
E. Brietzke  and
R.S. McIntyre
C.Y. Yim
Affiliation:
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada Psychiatry and Pharmacology, Mood Disorders Psychopharmacology Unit, University Health Network, 399 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON, M5T 2S8 Canada
J.K. Soczynska
Affiliation:
Psychiatry and Pharmacology, Mood Disorders Psychopharmacology Unit, University Health Network, 399 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON, M5T 2S8 Canada Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
S.H. Kennedy
Affiliation:
Psychiatry and Pharmacology, Mood Disorders Psychopharmacology Unit, University Health Network, 399 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON, M5T 2S8 Canada Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
H.O. Woldeyohannes
Affiliation:
Psychiatry and Pharmacology, Mood Disorders Psychopharmacology Unit, University Health Network, 399 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON, M5T 2S8 Canada
E. Brietzke
Affiliation:
Bipolar Disorder Program, Institute of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
R.S. McIntyre*
Affiliation:
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada Psychiatry and Pharmacology, Mood Disorders Psychopharmacology Unit, University Health Network, 399 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON, M5T 2S8 Canada Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
*
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +416 603 5279; fax: +416 603 5368. roger.mcintyre@uhn.on.ca (R.S. McIntyre).
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Abstract

Background

Persistent impairment in cognitive function has been described in euthymic individuals with bipolar disorder. Collective work indicates that obesity is associated with reduced cognitive function in otherwise healthy individuals. This sub-group post-hoc analysis preliminarily explores and examines the association between overweight/obesity and cognitive function in euthymic individuals with bipolar disorder.

Methods

Euthymic adults with DSM-IV-TR-defined bipolar I or II disorder were enrolled. Subjects included in this post-hoc analysis (n = 67) were divided into two groups (normal weight, body mass index [BMI] of 18.5–24.9kg/m2; overweight/obese, BMI≥25.0kg/m2). Demographic and clinical information were obtained at screening. At baseline, study participants completed a comprehensive cognitive battery to assess premorbid IQ, verbal learning and memory, attention and psychomotor processing speed, executive function, general intellectual abilities, recollection and habit memory, as well as self-perceptions of cognitive failures.

Results

BMI was negatively correlated with attention and psychomotor processing speed as measured by the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (P<0.01). Overweight and obese bipolar individuals had a significantly lower score on the Verbal Fluency Test when compared to normal weight subjects (P<0.05). For all other measures of cognitive function, non-significant trends suggesting a negative association with BMI were observed, with the exception of measures of executive function (i.e. Trail Making Test B) and recollection memory (i.e. process-dissociation task).

Conclusion

Notwithstanding the post-hoc methodology and relatively small sample size, the results of this study suggest a possible negative effect of overweight/obesity on cognitive function in euthymic individuals with bipolar disorder. Taken together, these data provide the impetus for more rigorous evaluation of the mediational role of overweight/obesity (and other medical co-morbidity) on cognitive function in psychiatric populations.

Keywords

OverweightObesityCognitive functionEuthymicBipolar
Type
Original articles
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 27 , Issue 3 , April 2012 , pp. 223 - 228
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier Masson SAS 2012

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