Negative emotion impacts memory for verbal discourse in pediatric bipolar disorder.

OBJECTIVES: Cognitive and emotional deficits have been documented in youth with pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD); however, to date, a systematic evaluation of comprehension and memory for verbally presented information has not been conducted. The effect of emotion on comprehension and memory for verbally presented material also has not been examined. We examined whether youth with PBD have difficulty recalling the big picture (macrostructure) as well as the story details (microstructure). METHODS: A total of 35 youth with PBD and 25 healthy controls completed an Affective Story Task. A psychological processing model allowed for the examination of both the macrostructure and microstructure of language comprehension. RESULTS: Youth with PBD were capable of comprehending the gist of the stories and were not impaired by emotion when comprehending and remembering macrostructure. However, negative emotional material was found to proactively interfere with the encoding and recall of microstructure. Level of depression appeared to impact recall of microstructure, but not macrostructure. CONCLUSIONS: Negatively valenced material may impair subsequent comprehension and memory for details among youth with PBD. This deficit could impact the daily functioning of these youth, as the perception of negative affect may derail aspects of successful comprehension and learning.

Disease Severity Assessment and Short-Term Outcome in Patients with Myasthenia Gravis.

BACKGROUND: Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disorder with a chronic fluctuating course. The outcome measures encapsulate disease severity, functional impact at diagnosis, and objective evaluation of clinical benefit from therapeutic interventions. AIMS AND OBJECTIVE: To assess the disease severity, correlation between various outcome measures, and to evaluate the short-term outcome at 3 months and 6 months in a cohort of MG patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Quantitative myasthenia gravis (QMG) score, myasthenia gravis composite (MGC) score, and myasthenia gravis quality of life-15 (MG-QoL-15) score were applied to 54 patients at first visit, 3 months and 6 months follow-up. RESULTS: Mean quality of life-15 (QoL-15) score at base line was 15.241. Mean QMG and MGC scores at baseline were 14.63 ± 8.37 and 15.87 ± 9.14, respectively. QMG score showed a strong positive correlation with both MGC and MG-QoL-15 scores. QMG and MGC scores showed a moderate correlation with acetylcholine receptor antibody (AChR Ab) titers. Mean QMG at follow-up was 9.95 ± 5.49 at 3 months and 6.74 ± 4.74 at 6 months. Mean MGC at follow-up was 10.75 ± 5.58 at 3 months and 6.51 ± 4.36 at 6 months. CONCLUSION: The combination of physician-evaluated and patient-reported outcome measures provided a more discerning picture of patient status and response to treatment. Incorporating MG outcome measures into clinical practice would aid in modulating therapies.