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*This proposal was written in partial fulfillment of requirements for an undergraduate research methods course and is not intended to be carried out.*
Spatial Memory in Manic and Depressive Episodes Associated With Bipolar Disorder
Nina Muto
The purpose of this study is to determine if spatial memory dysfunction is worse during manic phases than in depressed phases of Bipolar I Disorder. Hippocampal dysfunction which is present in bipolar, is reported to lead to poor performance on spatial ability tasks. Thirty male and female Bipolar I patients will be selected from inpatient psychiatric units in northeastern Pennsylvania. Participants will be assessed for mania by the Young Mania Rating Scale and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, and for depression using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM- IV (SCID). They will then perform a virtual reality spatial memory test developed N. Burgess and results will be measured to see if manic participants perform significantly worse on this spatial memory task.
Introduction Method Expected Results and Future Research References
My Research Methods Proposal
Topic:
Spatial memory during depressive and manic episodes associated with bipolar disorder I
Rosenzweig, M. R., Breedlove, S. M., & Watson, N. V. (2005). Biological
Psychology: An Introduction to Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience (4th
ed.). Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, Inc.