Background. Despite markedly different clinical presentations, few studies have reported differences
in neuropsychological functioning between mania and depression. The disinhibited behaviour
characteristic of mania and evidence that subgenual prefrontal cortex is differentially activated in
mania and depression both suggest that dissociable de®cits will emerge on tasks that require
inhibitory control and are subserved by ventromedial prefrontal cortex.
Methods. Manic patients and controls undertook computerized neuropsychological tests of
memory and planning ability. In addition, manic and depressed patients were directly compared
with controls on a novel affective shifting task that requires inhibitory control over different
components of cognitive and emotional processing.