Gray matter volume covariance networks are associated with altered emotional processing in bipolar disorder: a source-based morphometry study

Miola, Alessandro; Trevisan, Nicolò; Merola, Arcangelo; Comini, Francesco Folena; Olivo, Daniele; Minerva, Matteo; Valeggia, Silvia; Toffanin, Tommaso; Favaro, Angela; Manara, Renzo; Sambataro, Fabio

doi:10.1007/s11682-021-00541-5

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…In functional MRI studies, neocortical visual areas, like the inferior occipital gyrus, and limbic regions, like the amygdala, have been linked to the visual processing of faces (Sato et al, 2017). Abnormal activation of these areas has been found in patients with BD and was linked to impaired processing of emotional faces (Gong et al, 2020;Miola et al, 2022;Phillips, Drevets, Rauch, and Lane, 2003). Abnormalities of this structure may be, in part, associated with impaired social functioning in patients with BD (Brotman et al, 2008;Gong et al, 2020;Phillips et al, 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Larger putamen in individuals at risk and with manifest bipolar disorder

Thomas-Odenthal,

Stein,

Vogelbacher

et al. 2024

Psychol. Med.

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Background: Individuals at risk for bipolar disorder (BD) have a wide range of genetic and non-genetic risk factors, like a positive family history of BD or (sub)threshold affective symptoms. Yet, it is unclear whether these individuals at risk and those diagnosed with BD share similar gray matter brain alterations. Methods: In 410 male and female participants aged 17–35 years, we compared gray matter volume (3T MRI) between individuals at risk for BD (as assessed using the EPIbipolar scale; n = 208), patients with a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of BD (n = 87), and healthy controls (n = 115) using voxel-based morphometry in SPM12/CAT12. We applied conjunction analyses to identify similarities in gray matter volume alterations in individuals at risk and BD patients, relative to healthy controls. We also performed exploratory whole-brain analyses to identify differences in gray matter volume among groups. ComBat was used to harmonize imaging data from seven sites. Results: Both individuals at risk and BD patients showed larger volumes in the right putamen than healthy controls. Furthermore, individuals at risk had smaller volumes in the right inferior occipital gyrus, and BD patients had larger volumes in the left precuneus, compared to healthy controls. These findings were independent of course of illness (number of lifetime manic and depressive episodes, number of hospitalizations), comorbid diagnoses (major depressive disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety disorder, eating disorder), familial risk, current disease severity (global functioning, remission status), and current medication intake. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that alterations in the right putamen might constitute a vulnerability marker for BD.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Larger putamen in individuals at risk and with manifest bipolar disorder

Thomas-Odenthal,

Stein,

Vogelbacher

et al. 2024

Psychol. Med.

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Network dysfunction of sadness facial expression processing and morphometry in euthymic bipolar disorder

Miola

Trevisan

Salvucci

et al. 2023

Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci

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Facial emotion recognition (FER), including sadness, is altered in bipolar disorder (BD). However, the relationship between this impairment and the brain structure in BD is relatively unexplored. Furthermore, its association with clinical variables and with the subtypes of BD remains to be clarified. Twenty euthymic patients with BD type I (BD-I), 28 BD type II (BD-II), and 45 healthy controls completed a FER test and a 3D-T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Gray matter volume (GMV) of the cortico-limbic regions implicated in emotional processing was estimated and their relationship with FER performance was investigated using network analysis. Patients with BD-I had worse total and sadness-related FER performance relative to the other groups. Total FER performance was significantly negatively associated with illness duration and positively associated with global functioning in patients with BD-I. Sadness-related FER performance was also significantly negatively associated with the number of previous manic episodes. Network analysis showed a reduced association of the GMV of the frontal–insular–occipital areas in patients with BD-I, with a greater edge strength between sadness-related FER performance and amygdala GMV relative to controls. Our results suggest that FER performance, particularly for facial sadness, may be distinctively impaired in patients with BD-I. The pattern of reduced interrelationship in the frontal–insular–occipital regions and a stronger positive relationship between facial sadness recognition and the amygdala GMV in BD may reflect altered cortical modulation of limbic structures that ultimately predisposes to emotional dysregulation. Future longitudinal studies investigating the effect of mood state on FER performance in BD are warranted.

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