Executive function and verbal memory are candidate bipolar endophenotypes given large deficits in these domains in bipolar patients and small, but intermediate, cognitive impairments in first-degree relatives.
Cognitive function in bipolar disorder varies significantly over time, largely independent of clinical factors. The temporal stability of sustained attention is the exception, suggesting it may represent a possible candidate intermediary phenotype.
The evidence for cognitive dysfunction as a marker of familial vulnerability is stronger for schizophrenia than for bipolar disorder. Although the presence of multiple cognitive deficits is shared by the 2 groups, the severity of cognitive deficits and its consequences appear to partly differ between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, which is in line with a model that implies the specific presence of a neurodevelopmental impairment in the former but not in the latter.
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