TY - JOUR

T1 - Action-based cognitive remediation in bipolar disorder improved verbal memory but had no effect on the neural response during episodic memory encoding

AU - Macoveanu, Julian

AU - Damgaard, Viktoria

AU - Ott, Caroline V.

AU - Knudsen, Gitte M.

AU - Kessing, Lars V.

AU - Miskowiak, Kamilla W.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s)

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Verbal memory and executive function impairments are common in remitted patients with bipolar disorder (BD). We recently found that Action-Based Cognitive Remediation (ABCR) may improve executive function and verbal memory in BD. Here, we investigated neuronal changes associated with ABCR treatment-related memory improvement in a longitudinal functional MRI (fMRI) study. Forty-five patients with remitted BD (ABCR: n = 26, control treatment: n = 19) completed a picture-encoding task during fMRI and tests of verbal memory and executive function outside the scanner before and after two weeks of ABCR/control treatment. The cognitive assessment was performed again following ten weeks of treatment. Thirty-four healthy controls underwent the same test protocol once for baseline comparisons. Patients showed a moderate improvement in a domain composite of verbal learning and memory both after two weeks and ten weeks of ABCR treatment, which correlated with improved executive function. At baseline, patients showed encoding-related hypoactivity in dorsal prefrontal cortex compared to healthy controls. However, treatment was not associated with significant task-related neuronal activity changes. Improved verbal learning and memory may have occurred through strengthened strategic processing targeted by ABCR. However, picture-encoding paradigms may be suboptimal to capture the neural correlates of this improvement, possibly by failing to engage strategic encoding processes.

AB - Verbal memory and executive function impairments are common in remitted patients with bipolar disorder (BD). We recently found that Action-Based Cognitive Remediation (ABCR) may improve executive function and verbal memory in BD. Here, we investigated neuronal changes associated with ABCR treatment-related memory improvement in a longitudinal functional MRI (fMRI) study. Forty-five patients with remitted BD (ABCR: n = 26, control treatment: n = 19) completed a picture-encoding task during fMRI and tests of verbal memory and executive function outside the scanner before and after two weeks of ABCR/control treatment. The cognitive assessment was performed again following ten weeks of treatment. Thirty-four healthy controls underwent the same test protocol once for baseline comparisons. Patients showed a moderate improvement in a domain composite of verbal learning and memory both after two weeks and ten weeks of ABCR treatment, which correlated with improved executive function. At baseline, patients showed encoding-related hypoactivity in dorsal prefrontal cortex compared to healthy controls. However, treatment was not associated with significant task-related neuronal activity changes. Improved verbal learning and memory may have occurred through strengthened strategic processing targeted by ABCR. However, picture-encoding paradigms may be suboptimal to capture the neural correlates of this improvement, possibly by failing to engage strategic encoding processes.

KW - Fmri

KW - Picture encoding

KW - Verbal memory

U2 - 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2021.111418

DO - 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2021.111418

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 34844094

AN - SCOPUS:85119823575

VL - 319

JO - Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging

JF - Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging

SN - 0925-4927

M1 - 111418

ER -