Bipolar disorder (BD) is a common, chronic and severe mental disorder, affecting approximately 2% of the adult population. It is becoming increasingly apparent that BD is associated with substantial functional impairment as it affects patients' personal and occupational function even when in clinical remission. Clinical factors such as severity, chronicity and residual symptoms influence functional impairment in BD but do not account fully for it.Therefore, research interest is now focused on cognitive impairment as a potentially important predictor of functional recovery. Cognitive impairment is recognized as trait dimension of BD. Recent yet compelling evidence suggests that cognitive impairment is a significant predictor of poor functional outcome in BD.This presentation reviews the relevant literature and explores possible avenues for intervention.