Theory of mind in first degree relatives of individuals with bipolar disorder

Michael T Reynolds; Tamsyn E Van Rheenen; Susan L Rossell

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2014.05.041

Theory of mind in first degree relatives of individuals with bipolar disorder

Psychiatry Res. 2014 Oct 30;219(2):400-2. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2014.05.041. Epub 2014 Jun 2.

Authors

Michael T Reynolds¹, Tamsyn E Van Rheenen², Susan L Rossell¹

Affiliations

¹ Brain and Psychological Sciences Research Centre, School of Health Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre (MAPrc), The Alfred Hospital and Monash University Central Clinical School, 607 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Australia.
² Brain and Psychological Sciences Research Centre, School of Health Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre (MAPrc), The Alfred Hospital and Monash University Central Clinical School, 607 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Australia. Electronic address: tvanrheenen@swin.edu.au.

PMID: 24947917
DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2014.05.041

Abstract

We assessed theory of mind (ToM) performance in unaffected first-degree relatives of individuals with bipolar disorder compared to healthy controls across several well recognised tasks. Results indicated that the former group were significantly impaired on the verbal but not visual or higher-order ToM tasks, suggesting that a verbal ToM deficit might be a useful endophenotypic marker for bipolar disorder.

Keywords: Endophenotypes; Mood disorders; Social cognition.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Bipolar Disorder / psychology*
Family / psychology*
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Neuropsychological Tests
Theory of Mind*
Young Adult