Reasoning Training in Individuals With Bipolar Disorder

Participants will only include people who are fluent speakers of English, as not all of the standardized and experimental cognitive tests have been normed for non-English speakers. Participants will be screened for significant medical, neurological, or psychiatric illness other than bipolar disorder.

Participants will complete baseline cognitive testing. Reasoning training will take place in small groups, once a week for 2hr/session. After the training, participants will complete the cognitive testing again. A subset of participants who qualify for the brain imaging component will also complete a pre-post resting state brain scan.

Training effects will be measured behaviorally in trained areas (reasoning & physical) and untrained cognitive areas. Additionally, structural and functional brain imaging will measure changes in cerebral blood flow, global and regional brain volume, white matter tracts, efficiency, activation patterns, and blood oxygenation with a particular focus on changes to frontal regions.

Screening Session: A research assistant will conduct screening procedures over the phone including a brief medical questionnaire covering their history, current medications and any pre-existing conditions. Prior diagnosis of bipolar disorder and euthymic state will be confirmed with participant's psychiatrist or treating physician.

Neurocognitive Testing Session: A clinician will administer a group of standardized and experimental tests to each participant for each of the cognitive testing sessions. This session may last up to 3 hours, depending on the pace of the participant's response times. The intent of the tasks is to assess higher level thinking skills, working memory, and selective learning.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI): Participants will have fMRI, at each aforementioned time point in the study, during which they will lie in the scanner while images of their brain will be recorded. Each session will take up to 90 minutes. During the fMRI and during the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) the patient will be asked just to lie still.

Cognitive reasoning training: The gist-based reasoning training will be delivered in one, two hour session each week over 4 weeks. It is strategy-based rather than content-based so that the focus is not content specific or situation-dependent. Gist-based reasoning has been linked to frontal lobe activation and to measures of executive function.

Post Intervention: Following the intervention, patients will repeat the cognitive neuropsychological assessment and fMRI identical to the pre-training assessment. Participants are not paid for any of these tests or training sessions.

Inclusion criteria

• Must have physician or psychiatrist authorization form confirming participant fulfills 4 criteria:

• has diagnosis of Bipolar I or II
• has been stable and consistent with medication for last 3 months
• is in a euthymic, rather than manic or depressive, state
• is appropriate for a group-based intervention

Exclusion criteria

• Not a native English speaker
• Less than 12 years education
• Additional psychiatric diagnosis