Resting state corticolimbic connectivity abnormalities in unmedicated bipolar disorder and unipolar depression

• Published in: Psychiatry research. Neuroimaging Vol. 171; no. 3; pp. 189 - 198
• Main Authors: Anand, Amit, Li, Yu, Wang, Yang, Lowe, Mark J, Dzemidzic, Mario
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shannon Elsevier Ireland Ltd 31.03.2009; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Amygdala - pathology; Amygdala - physiopathology; Arousal - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Bipolar disorder; Bipolar Disorder - diagnosis; Bipolar Disorder - pathology; Bipolar Disorder - physiopathology; Bipolar disorders; Brain imaging; Brain Mapping; Cerebral Cortex - pathology; Cerebral Cortex - physiopathology; Corpus Callosum - pathology; Corpus Callosum - physiopathology; Corpus Striatum - pathology; Corpus Striatum - physiopathology; Depression; Depressive Disorder, Major - diagnosis; Depressive Disorder, Major - pathology; Depressive Disorder, Major - physiopathology; Dominance, Cerebral - physiology; Female; fMRI; Globus Pallidus - pathology; Globus Pallidus - physiopathology; Gyrus Cinguli - pathology; Gyrus Cinguli - physiopathology; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Limbic System - pathology; Limbic System - physiopathology; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Medical sciences; Mediodorsal Thalamic Nucleus - pathology; Mediodorsal Thalamic Nucleus - physiopathology; Middle Aged; Mood disorders; Nerve Net - pathology; Nerve Net - physiopathology; Oxygen Consumption - physiology; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Radiology; Reference Values; Resting state connectivity; Young Adult; fMRI; Bipolar disorder; Depression; Resting state connectivity; Brain imaging; Mood disorder; Human; Central nervous system; Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; Encephalon; Rest; Imaging; Medical imagery; Functional imaging
• ISSN: 0925-4927; 1872-7506
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2008.03.012

Abstract This study for the first time investigated resting state corticolimbic connectivity abnormalities in unmedicated bipolar disorder (BD) and compared them with findings in healthy controls and unipolar major depressive disorder (MDD) patient groups. Resting state correlations of low frequency BOLD fluctuations (LFBF) in echoplanar functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) data were acquired from a priori defined regions of interests (ROIs) in the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC), dorsomedial thalamus (DMTHAL), pallidostriatum (PST) and amygdala (AMYG), to investigate corticolimbic functional connectivity in unmedicated BD patients in comparison to healthy subjects and MDD patients. Data were acquired from 11 unmedicated BD patients [six manic (BDM) and five depressed (BDD)], and compared with data available from 15 unmedicated MDD and 15 healthy subjects. BD patients had significantly decreased pgACC connectivity to the left and right DMTHAL, similar to findings seen in MDD. Additionally, BD patients had decreased pgACC connectivity with the left and right AMYG as well as the left PST. An exploratory analysis revealed that both BDD and BDM patients had decreased connectivity between the pgACC and DMTHAL. The results of the study indicate a common finding of decreased corticolimbic functional connectivity in different types of mood disorders.