Neurocognitive profile of patients with Bipolar Affective Disorder in the euthymic phase

•Processing speed deficits continue in euthymic phase.•Better performance on unstructured tasks such as design fluency.•These cognitive markers have implications in diagnosis and rehabilitation. Bipolar disorder is a chronic psychiatric condition characterized by episodes of elevated/irritable and depressed moods resulting in the loss of more disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) than other major conditions. The neurocognitive impairments in these patients interfere with sustained goal-directed performance and achievement even during the euthymic phase of the illness. The study aimed to explore the neurocognitive profile of patients in their euthymic phase. We matched 30 patients diagnosed with Bipolar Affective Disorder (BD) in the age range of 20–40 years with 30 healthy controls (with no axis I or II diagnosis, assessed on MINI) matched on age, gender, and education. The neurocognitive profile was assessed using NIMHANS Neuropsychology Battery. Euthymic phase patients with bipolar disorder had statistically significant low scores on the speed of processing information as compared to healthy controls. Although impaired in BD group, no statistically significant difference was found between the two groups on executive functions and memory. The findings of the study suggest that cognitive retraining aimed at ameliorating these deficits can be a used as an essential intervention in rehabilitation programs to successfully reintegrate patients with the bipolar affective disorder into the society. The research also indicates that despite the symptomatic recovery between the episodes, impairments in the speed of processing information continue to disrupt performance in patients with Bipolar Disorder.