Soft neurological signs do not increase with age in euthymic bipolar subjects

Abstract Background Soft neurological signs (SNS) are found to be in excess in bipolar disorder (BD). This paper explores changes in SNS with ageing to ascertain whether BD is associated with a progressive neurological decline or a relatively fixed, persistent deficit. Methods 53 euthymic BD subject...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of affective disorders 2007-11, Vol.103 (1), p.99-103
Main Authors: Goswami, Utpal, Gulrajani, Chinmoy, Varma, Anjali, Sharma, Aditya, Ferrier, Ian Nicol, Young, Allan H, Moore, P. Brian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Age Factors
Ageing
Biological and medical sciences
Bipolar
Bipolar Disorder - diagnosis
Bipolar Disorder - epidemiology
Bipolar Disorder - psychology
Brain Damage, Chronic - diagnosis
Brain Damage, Chronic - epidemiology
Brain Damage, Chronic - psychology
Cognition Disorders - diagnosis
Cognition Disorders - epidemiology
Cognition Disorders - psychology
Comorbidity
Cross-Sectional Studies
Disease Progression
Female
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Mood disorders
Neurodegeneration
Neuropsychological Tests - statistics & numerical data
Prospective Studies
Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychometrics
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Reference Values
Soft signs
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Abstract Background Soft neurological signs (SNS) are found to be in excess in bipolar disorder (BD). This paper explores changes in SNS with ageing to ascertain whether BD is associated with a progressive neurological decline or a relatively fixed, persistent deficit. Methods 53 euthymic BD subjects and controls, aged 15–55 years, were for examined for the presence of SNS which were rated using a modified Kolakowska battery. Results In controls, SNS scores increased slowly and significantly with age whereas in BD subjects high scores occurred throughout the age range and were not age dependent. This confirms and extends an earlier, smaller, study which is reanalysed. Limitations The study design was cross-sectional whereas a longitudinal study would better reveal changes in soft signs with ageing. Conclusions The studies suggest strongly that BD is accompanied by a significant neurobiological deficit which may progress only minimally with increasing age.
ISSN:0165-0327
1573-2517
DOI:10.1016/j.jad.2007.01.009