The manic phase of Bipolar disorder significantly impairs theory of mind decoding

Bipolar disorder is associated with significant deficits in the decoding of others' mental states in comparison to healthy participants. However, differences in theory of mind decoding ability among patients in manic, depressed, and euthymic phases of bipolar disorder is currently unknown. Fifty-nine patients with bipolar I or II disorder (13 manic, 25 depressed, 20 euthymic) completed the “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” Task (Eyes task) and the Animals Task developed to control for non-mentalistic response demands of the Eyes Task. Patients also completed self-report and clinician-rated measures of depression, mania, and anxiety symptoms. Patients in the manic phase were significantly less accurate than those in the depressed and euthymic phases at decoding mental states in the Eyes task, and this effect was strongest for eyes of a positive or neutral valence. Further Eyes task performance was negatively correlated with the symptoms of language/thought disorder, pressured speech, and disorganized thoughts and appearance. These effects held when controlling for accuracy on the Animals task, response times, and relevant demographic and clinical covariates. Results suggest that the state of mania, and particularly psychotic symptoms that may overlap with the schizophrenia spectrum, are most strongly related to social cognitive deficits in bipolar disorder.