Life after Cognitive Remediation in Bipolar (La-CRiB)

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Life after Cognitive Remediation in Bipolar (La-CRiB): A long-term follow-up of participants who previously participated in the CRiB/CRiB2 trials

• IRAS ID

  367396

• Contact name

  Allan Young

• Contact email

  a.young@imperial.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Imperial College London

• Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

  N/A, N/A

• Duration of Study in the UK

  2 years, 11 months, 27 days

• Research summary

  A core feature of bipolar disorder (BD) is cognitive impairment, with around 40–60% of people reporting substantial deficits across different cognitive domains. More importantly, these deficits are associated with poorer quality of life and psychosocial functioning.

  There is a lack of research on the long-term trajectory of cognitive impairment in BD, as most studies either have a follow-up of not exceeding 12 months, or include a relatively small sample size (n≤91). Studies following up participants for 5 to 10 years suggest the trajectory of cognitive functioning in people with BD is comparable with healthy controls. However, these studies had a limited sample size and did not assess whether cognitive subgroups followed distinct trajectories, which represents a notable gap in the literature. It also remains unclear whether the long-term trajectories of cognition and mood episodes in BD are interconnected.

  A promising treatment for cognitive impairment in BD is cognitive remediation (CR). An early CR trial we completed in 2019, Cognitive Remediation in Bipolar (CRiB), added to the existing evidence on the feasibility and safety of CR in euthymic individuals with BD (n=80). Building on these initial findings, we are currently conducting a larger multi-site randomised clinical trial (RCT), CRiB2, which assesses the efficacy and mechanisms of CR in euthymic individuals with BD. CRiB2 is due to be completed in June 2026, and is the largest CR trial in BD to date (n=222).

  While CR has shown potential in treating cognitive impairment in BD, its effects and mechanisms remain insufficiently explored. For instance, no studies have examined its long-term effects, with most trials following up participants for up to six months. This is a substantial gap in this line of clinical research, given the hypothesis that the transfer of cognitive gains to daily life functioning occurs with a time lag.

• REC name

  London - Bloomsbury Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  26/PR/0354

• Date of REC Opinion

  22 Apr 2026

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion