Schedule of Events | Symposia

The Montreal Cognitive Assessment of Middle Aged and Older Aged Adults with Bipolar Disorder

Poster Session D - Monday, March 31, 2025, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom

Melissa Harris¹, Hannah Edelstein, Sheri Ryoko Hiroi, Rebecca Marks¹, Hannah Poeng¹, Susan Quatrano¹, Noa Katz Shroitman¹, Brian Pittman¹, George S. Alexopoulos¹, Christopher van Dyck², Hilary P. Blumberg¹; ¹Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA, ²Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA

Older adults with bipolar disorder (BD) have been observed to have cognitive deficits; however, some studies failed to replicate these findings perhaps because the tests used had inadequate sensitivity. It is important to identify a test that can be administered at the bedside that can detect the cognitive dysfunction of BD patients. Abnormal test results can prompt close monitoring of cognitive functions to identify the risk for dementia which is prevalent in persons with BD. Cognitive deficits detected during middle-age could identify individuals at risk who might benefit from intervention during this age period. To address these questions, we administer the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), a widely used screening test for mild cognitive impairment, to participants aged 40 to 80 years. Scores of 47 BD were compared with those of 52 psychiatrically healthy (NC) participants. The main and interaction effects of age were assessed. The BD group had significantly lower MoCA total scores than the NC group. This difference persisted when euthymic BD participants were compared with NC participants. There were no significant main or interaction effects of age. The lower MOCA scores observed among middle- and older-aged adults with BD compared to NC participants suggests that MoCA can detect cognitive impairment in BD disorder. In the current analysis, results didn’t differ according to age. The cognitive deficits of euthymic BD raise the question of a trait feature of BD. Cognitive difficulties of BD may emerge by middle adulthood, suggesting the need for detection and development of treatment strategies.

Topic Area: EMOTION & SOCIAL: Emotion-cognition interactions