Euthymic patients with bipolar disorder show decreased reward learning in a probabilistic reward task.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Bipolar disorder (BPD) features cycling mood states ranging from depression to mania with intermittent phases of euthymia. Bipolar disorder subjects often show excessive goal-directed and pleasure-seeking behavior during manic episodes and reduced hedonic capacity during depressive episodes, indicating that BPD might involve altered reward processing. Our goal was to test the hypothesis that BPD is characterized by impairments in adjusting behavior as a function of prior reinforcement history, particularly in the presence of residual anhedonic symptoms.

Methods

Eighteen medicated BPD subjects and 25 demographically matched comparison subjects performed a probabilistic reward task. To identify putative dysfunctions in reward processing irrespective of mood state, p

SUBMITTER: Pizzagalli DA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2464620 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature