Individuals with bipolar disorder (BD) experience severe and persistent difficulties with impulsivity, especially in the context of experiencing strong emotions. Emotion-based impulsivity is associated with increased hospitalizations, lost relationships, substance use, and suicide. Yet, mechanisms underlying emotion-based impulsivity are not well understood, limiting the design of effective interventions. This project uses multimodal assessments to identify candidate mechanisms of emotion-based impulsivity in the lab and daily life. This study will recruit 90 individuals across the entire bipolar spectrum (30 healthy individuals, 30 with subclinical BD, and 30 with diagnosed BD). Participants will complete trait measures of emotion-based impulsivity and undergo an EEG recording while completing a affective inhibition task. Following the EEG, participants will complete a 28-day ecological momentary assessment protocol which assesses emotions, their regulation, and impulsive behaviors. The specific aims are to: 1) Identify neurophysiological components of response inhibition that are associated with trait and lab-based emotion-based impulsivity, and 2) evaluate the extent to which these components are associated with emotion-based impulsivity in real-world settings. Dr. Sarah Sperry is the lead researcher on this study.
