Project Summary

Michael J. Ostacher, M.D., M.P.H. (Young Investigator 2005) of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University, plans to study if people with bipolar disease who also abuse either drugs or alcohol have unique neuropsychological impairments compared to people with bipolar disease who do not drink or take drugs. Many patients with bipolar disease use either alcohol or drugs, complicating the course of the condition by increasing the risk for suicide and symptom severity, and presenting a challenge for clinicians, patients, and their families. Research has found that patients with bipolar disorder have specific cognitive impairments in executive functioning and the ability to remember and use words and that these deficits persist even when these patients do not have depression or mania symptoms. Similar deficits have been noted in people who have recovered from substance abuse who do not have a mood disorder. Almost no information, however, exists about whether there are neuropsychological deficits in people with bipolar disorder who are substance abusers. Dr. Ostacher hypothesizes that these deficits predispose people with bipolar disorder to use substances and to have a malignant course. Using neuropsychological tests of executive functioning and verbal memory, Dr. Ostacher proposes to study 20 subjects with bipolar disorder with a history of substance abuse who no longer are using substances, and compare them to 20 subjects with bipolar disorder and no history of substance abuse and to 20 control subjects with no mood disorder or substance abuse. The aim is to examine whether there are specific neuropsychological characteristics in people with bipolar disease and substance abuse issues.

Program Area: MOOD DISORDERS\Bipolar\Substance Abuse

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