Center for Neuropsychiatric Outcome and Rehabilitation Research (CENORR)

Targeting Disabilities for Rehabilitation in Bipolar Disorder
(NIMH)
PI: Judith Jaeger, Ph.D., MPA
Contact: Stefanie Berns, Ph.D. (718) 470-8436
This project aims to determine the contribution of neuropsychological impairment to functional disability and service use patterns in bipolar disorder.

Most people have trouble functioning once in a while. Fatigue, hunger, too much stress or even a cold can temporarily interfere with concentration, memory, or the ability to think or express oneself clearly. These difficulties in turn make us temporarily less efficient when performing day-to-day tasks. However for people living with mental illnesses (for example, schizophrenia, manic depression or major depressive disorder), problems with functioning are often persistent.

Cognitive deficits are also common in these disorders, for example in memory and concentration, perception, planning or problem solving, behavioral initiation and regulation. Resulting unemployment, underemployment, inability to care for family or attend to household or community responsibilities, are not only costly consequences of these diseases, they are regarded by both patients and their families as the most devastating.

CENORR is the research division within the NSLIJ Health System’s Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and was founded in 1998 to conduct research devoted to clarifying the main causes of functional disability in psychiatric disorders. CENORR researchers, specialists in neuropsychology, psychology and rehabilitation, recognize that understanding the nature and causes of functional disability is the first step in doing something about it.

CENORR researchers are studying how cognitive impairments interfere with life functions such as ability to work, attend school, socialize and live independently. In collaboration with other researchers, both within The Zucker Hillside Hospital Department of Psychiatry Research and at other research centers, diagnosis and longitudinal patterns of cognitive impairment and functional disability are being associated with genetic and other biological factors including medication treatment response.

CENORR receives support from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Association for Research in Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD), Stanley Medical Research Foundation, and the NSLIJ Research Institute. CENORR activities, including training and research, arise from, and are closely linked to the clinical mission of the Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation.

Greater knowledge about why patients often can't function will lead to more compassionate and humane ways of serving their needs… and hopefully helping them to function better.