Cognitive endophenotypes of bipolar disorder: A meta-analysis of neuropsychological deficits in euthymic patients and their first-degree relatives

Abstract

Background: Our aim was to delineate neuropsychological deficits related to genetic susceptibility, illness process and iatrogenic factors in bipolar disorder (BD). Methods: Following an extensive publication search on several databases, meta-analyses were conducted for 18 cognitive variables in studies that compared performances of euthymic BD patients (45 studies; 1423 subjects) or first-degree relatives of BD patients (17 studies; 443 subjects) with healthy controls. The effect of demographic variables and confounding factors like age of onset, duration of illness and medication status were analysed using the method of meta-regression. Results: While response inhibition, set shifting, exe..