This study has explored the influence of cognitive reserve on preservation of specific cognitive abilities over time in BP. The BP group did not demonstrate accelerated cognitive decline over 5 years compared to the HC group. Although the trajectory of cognitive change over time was similar between BP patients and HCs, higher overall intellectual ability may be a protective factor against cognitive decline, particularly for BP patients.

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Findings illustrate the multiple domains of HRQOL that are affected in individuals providing care for someone with MCI. Moreover, the findings highlight the need for extending support services to MCI caregivers, a group that is typically not offered support services due to the 'less severe' nature of an MCI diagnosis.

Objectives Cognitive dysfunction is a key feature of bipolar disorder (BD). However, not much is known about its temporal stability, as some studies have demonstrated a neurodegenerative model in BD while others have shown no change in cognitive functioning over time. Building upon our prior work which examined the natural course of executive functioning, the current study aimed to investigate the natural course of memory, emotion processing, and fine motor dexterity over a five year period in BD and healthy control (HC) samples. Methods Using a five-year longitudinal cohort, 90 individuals with BD and 17 HCs were administered a battery of neuropsychological tests at study baseline, 1 year, and 5 years after study entry that captured four areas of cognitive performance: visual memory, auditory memory, emotion processing, and fine motor dexterity. Results Latent Growth Curve Modeling showed no group differences in the slopes of any of the cognitive factors between the BD and HC groups. Age at baseline was negatively associated with visual memory, emotion processing, and fine motor dexterity. Education level was positively associated with auditory and visual memory and fine motor. Female gender was negatively associated with emotion processing. Conclusions Extending our prior work on longitudinal evaluation of executive functioning, individuals with BD show similar linear change in others areas of cognitive functioning including memory, emotion processing, and fine motor dexterity as compared to unaffected, healthy controls. Age, education, and gender may have some differential effects on cognitive changes.

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