Persons suffering from bipolar affective disorder have a wide range of cognitive deficits, but there have been limited understanding of prospective memory performance. Time-based prospective memory is remembering to perform an action at a specific time, whereas event-based prospective memory is remembering to perform an action when an external cue appears.

Assess the time-based and event-based prospective memory performance in Chinese persons diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder.

Identify factors associated with prospective memory performance.

A sample of 40 persons diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder were recruited from a psychiatric outpatient clinic. All participants completed the Cambridge Prospective Memory Test, Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test, Test of Nonverbal Intelligence - Third Edition, the Young Mania Rating Scale and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression.

The mean total score of the Cambridge Prospective Memory Test of persons diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder was 24.4 ± 7.0. Time-based prospective memory performance was worse than event-based PM task. The Cambridge Prospective Memory Test total score was associated with the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression score and Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test score. The performance of time-based prospective memory tasks was associated with the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression score, and the performance of event-based prospective memory tasks was associated with the Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test total score.

Persons diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder are found to have worse time-based than event-based prospective memory performance. The importance for everyday functioning and independent living needs to be explored in future studies.

Prospective memory (PM) refers to the ability to remember to carry out an intended action in the future. PM is consistently found to be impaired in individuals with schizophrenia. Bipolar disorder and schizophrenia may represent conditions along a continuum, and share similar neurocognitive and genetic architecture. This study aimed to compare the nature and extent of PM impairment in individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Participants were 38 out-patients with schizophrenia and 40 out-patients with bipolar disorder in an early psychosis intervention programme, and 37 healthy controls. Time-, event- and activity-based PMs were assessed using a dual-task laboratory paradigm. Self-reported PM performance was gauged using the Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), with intelligence quotient (IQ) and education included as covariates, was used to examine group difference on various types of PM. Repeated measures of ANCOVA were used to examine the group × PM type interaction effect. Correspondence between laboratory and self-reported PM measures was examined using correlational analysis.

The group × PM type interaction effect was not significant, but the main effect of group was significant. Patients with schizophrenia and patients with bipolar disorder both performed more poorly than healthy participants in PM. The two clinical groups did not significantly differ in PM. Laboratory and self-reported PM measures did not correlate significantly with each other.

Patients with bipolar disorder shared a similar PM impairment with those with schizophrenia. Findings of this study extended the similarity in neurocognitive impairments between the two psychiatric disorders to PM.

This study aimed to compare ‘cool’ [working memory (WM) and response inhibition] and ‘hot’ (delay aversion) executive functions (EFs) in children with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

A total of 100 ADHD children (45 with family history of ADHD and 55 with no family history) and 100 healthy controls, all medication free, were tested on tasks related to the ‘hot’ (i.e. two choice-delay tasks) and ‘cool’ domains of EF (i.e. Digits backward, Corsi Block Task backward, Go/No-Go Task, Stop-Signal Task, and the Stroop).

Compared with the controls, children with ADHD were found to perform significantly worse on one or more measures of response inhibition, WM, and delay aversion after controlling for co-morbidities and estimated IQ. In addition, comparisons between ADHD children with family history of ADHD and those with no family history found significant differences on measures of response inhibition and WM but not delay aversion. These results are largely supported by results of two logistic regressions.

ADHD was found to be associated with deficits on both cool and hot EFs. There is also evidence to suggest that cool EFs impairment is related to a family history of ADHD. Findings of this study have helped to elucidate the nature and extent of EF deficits in children with ADHD.