Idiosyncratic Patterns of Learning and Word Association During Mania
GEORGE M. HENRY M.D.1,
HERBERT WEINGARTNER PH.D.2, , and
DENNIS L. MURPHY M.D.
1 Department of Psychiatry, University of Kentucky Medical Center, Lexington, Ky. 40506
2 Associate Professor of Psychology, Division of Social Science, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Md.
When compared to results from tests carried out when they were not manic, patients during mania showed changes in verbal learning and word association patterns. The findings support the hypothesis that a reversible learning disorder occurs during mania that is specific to this illness and is accounted for by different patterns of verbal association. The disorder may be related to states of hyperarousal and to alterations in central biogenic amine function.
