摘要：AbstractAlterations in temporal perception accompany dissociative symptoms. However, the extent and frequency of these temporal symptoms have not been extensively studied in Bipolar Disorder (BD). The study was a prospective, repeated measures design of 21 patients with BD, conducted at Barwon Health in Geelong, Australia. The study combined questionnaires of mood and dissociative symptoms with a novel psychophysical method of assessing altered sub-second temporal performance. Participants observed a series of two flashed visual stimuli (duration 20ms, inter stimulus interval 60ms) while making rapid (saccadic) eye movements. The experimental paradigm resulted in a proportion of observations (47%) in which the perceptual ordering of the flashes was inverted in time. Dissociative symptoms, as measured by the Dissociative Experiences Scale, were common in this patient cohort. The proportion of inverted temporal judgments correlated with both dissociative symptom scores (Clinician Administered Dissociative States Scale, unreality subscale) and with the Young Mania Rating Scale score (in linear model). This study shows that measures of temporal perception correlate with mood alterations in BD. This finding is the first to find such associations with a sub-second timing task. The linkage between the symptoms of BD and testable measures of time perception, supports the case for psychophysical measures of dissociation having utility as biomarkers of disease state.
