Social Cognition, Memory, and Executive Functions in Bipolar Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder

Bipolar disorder (BD) are common psychiatric disorders often misdiagnosed, leading to delayed treatment. Even during stable phases, individuals with bipolar disorder experience residual cognitive impairments that affect their social functioning and quality of life. This study aims to explore social cognition deficits (e.g., emotional processing, theory of mind, attribution bias) and their relationship with executive functions (e.g., flexibility, inhibition, working memory) and memory in bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder, ultimately seeking to improve understanding of their functional outcomes. Social cognition and executive functions in BD are both state- and trait-related. One recent meta-analysis demonstrated impairment in social cognitive domains for manic, depressive, and euthymic bipolar disorders' patients but it remains unclear whether these social cognitive deficits in BD are due to executive functions and/or other confounding effects. Few studies have investigated the interdependency between these cognitive impairments in these two affective disorders while a better understanding of the link between executive functions and social cognition seems crucial in order to better characterize the nature of patients' deficits and thus their caring.