An MRI study of amygdala in schizophrenia and psychotic bipolar disorder

Abstract

Meta-analyses report larger amygdala in subjects with bipolar disorder compared to schizophrenia. However, few studies have compared the size of amygdala in psychotic bipolar disorder with schizophrenia. Here we examine size of amygdala in a sample of 36 patients with psychotic bipolar disorder, 31 patients with schizophrenia and 27 healthy comparison subjects. Patients with schizophrenia had smaller amygdala compared with patients with psychotic bipolar disorder (p=0.014). These results suggest that change in volume of amygdala may represent a morphologic feature distinguishing psychotic bipolar disorder from schizophrenia.

Brain structure, function, and neurochemistry in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder—a systematic review of the magnetic resonance neuroimaging literature

“…HC > SZ > BD in amygdala and right hippocampusRadonic et al 120 201115/15/15/15ChronicMedicatedHippocampusROI (manual tracing)2SZ = SAD < HC = BD in hippocampal volumede Castro-Manglano et al 51 201120/10/0/14PFEMedicatedWhole brainVBM1.5HC > BD in frontal lobe, thalamus, superior temporal gyrus, cerebellum; HC > SZ frontal lobe, thalamus, hippocampus; BD > SZ hippocampusCui et al 47 201136/24/0/24PAcutely ill FE and chronicMedicatedWhole brainVBM3HC > SZ in superior temporal and inferior parietal lobe, HC < SZ in putamen; HC > BD in superior temporal, inferior parietal lobe, and caudate; HC < BD in putamenIvleva et al 49 201210/19/16/17PChronicMedicatedWhole brainVBM, Free Surfer3HC > SZ and SAD in frontal, temporal and insular cortices, HC > SZ across neocortex, thalamus, and basal ganglia, BD = HC in cortical and subcortical gray matter volumeYuksel et al 32 201243/37/21/28PChronicMedicatedWhole brainVBM3HC > SZ in prefrontal and temporal cortices, HC < SZ in cerebellum, BD > SZ in subgenual cortexWatson et al 40 201259/25/0/24PFEMedicatedWhole brainVBM1.5HC > SZ in hippocampus, thalamus, striatum and cerebellum. HC > BD in precuneus; BD > HC in cerebellumMahon et al 44 201227/31/0/36PChronicMedicatedAmygdalaFree Surfer1.5Amygdala volume SZ < BD = HCIvleva et al 29 2013200/146/90/115PChronicMedicatedWhole brainVBM3HC > SZ and SAD in frontal, temporal and insular cortices, thalamus, basal ganglia, and cerebellum. HC > BD frontal, insular, temporal and parietal cortexRatnanather et al 121 201327/31/0/36ChronicMedicatedSTG and planum temporale<...>…”

Morphometry of the amygdala in schizophrenia and psychotic bipolar disorder

“…This sample has been described in detail previously (Mahon et al, 2012; Ratnanather et al, 2013). All subjects provided informed consent prior to participating in the study.…”

“…We previously reported smaller amygdala volume in SZ compared to psychotic BP (Mahon et al, 2012). Here, we extend that study by utilizing morphometry to examine neuroanatomic features of amygdala in the same sample.…”

“…One potentially informative distinction can be made between subtypes of BP presenting with and without psychosis (Potash, 2006) and it has been suggested that neuroanatomical features of psychotic BP, rather than BP without psychosis, may be more similar to what is seen in SZ (Strasser et al, 2005). However, volumes of amygdala have been reported to be smaller in SZ than in psychotic BP (Frazier et al, 2008; Mahon et al, 2012; Velakoulis et al, 2006). …”

A Review: Detecting Alterations of Brain Connectivity in Schizophrenia based on Structural MRI

“…In addition, patients with schizophrenia exhibit impairments in both basic sensory processing and higher cognitive functions, such as language, reasoning and planning [4]. Nowadays, there are some brain image systems helping to diagnose of schizophrenia, like structural MRI [5], diffusion MRI [6], functional MRI [7], PET [8], MEG [9] and SPECT [10] etc. However, the etiology and pathophysiology of schizophrenia remain unknown [2], while indeed, schizophrenia has come to be regarded more and more as a disease of disconnectivity [11].…”