A pilot study of visual backward masking performance among affected versus unaffected offspring of parents with bipolar disorder

AbstractBackgroundIn visual backward masking (VBM), a target is followed by a mask that decreases target discriminability. Schizophrenia patients (SZ) show strong and reproducible masking impairments, which are associated with reduced EEG amplitudes. Patients with bipolar disorder (BP) show masking deficits, too. Here, we investigated the neural EEG correlates of VBM in BP.Methods122 SZ, 94 unaffected controls, and 38 BP joined a standard VBM experiment. 123 SZ, 94 unaffected controls and 16 BP joined a corresponding EEG experiment, analyzed in terms of the global field power.ResultsAs in previous studies, SZ and BP show strong masking deficits. Importantly and similarly to SZ, BP show decreased global field power amplitudes at approximately 200 ms after the target onset, compared to controls.ConclusionsThese results suggest that VBM deficits are not specific for schizophrenia but for a broader range of functional psychoses. Potentially, both SZ and BP show deficient target enhancement.

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Neurocognitive functioning in the early stages of bipolar disorder: visual backward masking performance in high risk subjects

European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience ◽

10.1007/s00406-008-0862-3 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 259 (5) ◽

pp. 263-269 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Anne Duffy ◽

Tomas Hajek ◽

Martin Alda ◽

Paul Grof ◽

Robert Milin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bipolar Disorder ◽

High Risk ◽

Neurocognitive Functioning ◽

Backward Masking ◽

Early Stages ◽

Visual Backward Masking

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Electrophysiological correlates of visual backward masking in patients with bipolar disorder

Psychiatry Research Neuroimaging ◽

10.1016/j.pscychresns.2020.111206 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 307 ◽

pp. 111206

Author(s):

Simona Garobbio ◽

Maya Roinishvili ◽

Ophélie Favrod ◽

Janir Ramos da Cruz ◽

Eka Chkonia ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bipolar Disorder ◽

Backward Masking ◽

Visual Backward Masking

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P.300 Neurocognitive endophenotypes for bipolar disorder identified by visual backward masking and wisconsin card sorting test

European Neuropsychopharmacology ◽

10.1016/j.euroneuro.2020.09.225 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 40 ◽

pp. S172

Author(s):

E. Machavariani ◽

E. Chkonia

Keyword(s):

Bipolar Disorder ◽

Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ◽

Backward Masking ◽

Card Sorting ◽

Wisconsin Card Sorting ◽

Visual Backward Masking ◽

Sorting Test

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Backward masking task performance in stable, euthymic out-patients with bipolar disorder

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291701004597 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 31 (7) ◽

pp. 1269-1277 ◽

Cited By ~ 43

Author(s):

G. M. MACQUEEN ◽

L. T. YOUNG ◽

T. M. GALWAY ◽

R. T. JOFFE

Keyword(s):

Bipolar Disorder ◽

Target Stimulus ◽

Burden Of Illness ◽

Reaction Times ◽

Error Rates ◽

Neural Pathways ◽

Backward Masking ◽

Treatment Status ◽

Dsm Iv ◽

Visual Backward Masking

Background. Several studies have suggested that visual backward masking (VBM) impairment is present in patients with bipolar disorder, but the clinical features, such as current symptoms, treatment status and past burden of illness that may contribute to the impairment have not been well described. This study examined well-characterized euthymic patients on two VBM tasks to ascertain the extent of VBM impairment in this group and the clinical correlates of this impairment.Method. Twenty-eight euthymic patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of bipolar disorder were matched by age, sex and IQ with 28 non-psychiatric control subjects. Both groups completed two VBM tasks; one required subjects to locate the target stimulus, one required identification of the target stimulus. Reaction times and error rates across a range of target-mask inter-stimulus intervals were assessed.Results. Patients were significantly slower and had more errors on both VBM tasks. There was a significant relation between reaction times on the identification task and past burden of illness, particularly past number of depressions. There was no discernible impact of treatment status on reaction time or performance, including no difference in lithium-treated versus not treated subjects.Conclusions. These results are consistent with previous reports of neuropsychological deficits in euthymic bipolar disorder patients. The potential benefit to employing tasks such as VBM is that it may provide a method for relating clinical variables such as illness burden with known neural pathways in order to elucidate better the pathophysiology leading to impaired cognitive performance in patients with bipolar disorder.

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