Psychosocial functioning is correlated with activation in the anterior cingulate cortex and left lateral prefrontal cortex during a verbal fluency task in euthymic bipolar disorder: a preliminary fMRI study.

Abstract

Cognitive impairment may account for functional and occupational disability in patients with bipolar disorder even during periods of euthymia. While imaging suggests structural, neurochemical, and functional abnormalities in bipolar disorder patients, the pathophysiology of these deficits has not been elucidated. It was hypothesized that euthymic bipolar patients would have different cortical activation during a verbal fluency task compared to healthy controls, and that psychosocial functioning would be associated with prefrontal cortical activation during the task in the bipolar group.