Fronto-subcortical functional connectivity in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder during a verbal fluency task

Deviations in activation patterns and functional connectivity have been observed in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) with prefrontal hemodynamics of patients compared with healthy individuals. The graph-theoretical approach provides useful network metrics for evaluating functional connectivity. The evaluation of functional connectivity during a cognitive task can be used to explain the neurocognitive mechanism underlying the cognitive impairments caused by depression. Overall, 31 patients with MDD and 43 healthy individuals completed a verbal fluency task (VFT) while wearing a head-mounted functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) devices. Hemodynamics and functional connectivity across eight prefrontal subregions in the two groups were analyzed and compared. We observed a reduction in prefrontal activation and weaker overall and interhemispheric subregion-wise correlations in the patient group compared with corresponding values in the control group. Moreover, efficiency, the network measure related to the effectiveness of information transfer, showed a significant between-group difference [t (71.64) = 3.66, corrected p < 0.001] along with a strong negative correlation with depression severity (rho = −0.30, p = 0.009). The patterns of prefrontal functional connectivity differed significantly between the patient and control groups during the VFT. Network measures can quantitatively characterize the reduction in functional connectivity caused by depression. The efficiency of the functional network may play an important role in the understanding of depressive symptoms.

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Altered functional connectivity of prefrontal cortex in healthy elderly and Alzheimer's disease patient during a verbal fluency task: An fNIRS study

IBRO Reports ◽

10.1016/j.ibror.2019.07.1289 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

pp. S404-S405

Author(s):

Minhee Kim ◽

Thien Nguyen ◽

Byeong C. Kim ◽

Jeonghwan Gwak ◽

Jang Jae Lee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Functional Connectivity ◽

Verbal Fluency ◽

Disease Patient ◽

Verbal Fluency Task ◽

Healthy Elderly ◽

Fluency Task

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Cortical haemodynamic response during the verbal fluency task in patients with bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder: a preliminary functional near-infrared spectroscopy study

BMC Psychiatry ◽

10.1186/s12888-021-03195-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Syeda Fabeha Husain ◽

Tong-Boon Tang ◽

Wilson W. Tam ◽

Bach X. Tran ◽

Cyrus S. Ho ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bipolar Disorder ◽

Infrared Spectroscopy ◽

Symptom Severity ◽

Verbal Fluency ◽

Near Infrared ◽

Clinical History ◽

Borderline Personality ◽

Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽

Verbal Fluency Task ◽

Fluency Task

Abstract Background Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is an emerging neuroimaging modality that provides a direct and quantitative assessment of cortical haemodynamic response during a cognitive task. It may be used to identify neurophysiological differences between psychiatric disorders with overlapping symptoms, such as bipolar disorder (BD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD). Hence, this preliminary study aimed to compare the cerebral haemodynamic function of healthy controls (HC), patients with BD and patients with BPD. Methods Twenty-seven participants (9 HCs, 9 patients with BD and 9 patients with BPD) matched for age, gender, ethnicity and education were recruited. Relative oxy-haemoglobin and deoxy-haemoglobin changes in the frontotemporal cortex was monitored with a 52-channel fNIRS system during a verbal fluency task (VFT). VFT performance, clinical history and symptom severity were also noted. Results Compared to HCs, both patient groups had lower mean oxy-haemoglobin in the frontotemporal cortex during the VFT. Moreover, mean oxy-haemoglobin in the left inferior frontal region is markedly lower in patients with BPD compared to patients with BD. Task performance, clinical history and symptom severity were not associated with mean oxy-haemoglobin levels. Conclusions Prefrontal cortex activity is disrupted in patients with BD and BPD, but it is more extensive in BPD. These results provide further neurophysiological evidence for the separation of BPD from the bipolar spectrum. fNIRS could be a potential tool for assessing the frontal lobe function of patients who present with symptoms that are common to BD and BPD.

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A functional MRI study of verbal fluency in adults with bipolar disorder and their unaffected relatives

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291710000127 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 40 (12) ◽

pp. 2025-2035 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

M. P. G. Allin ◽

N. Marshall ◽

K. Schulze ◽

M. Walshe ◽

M.-H. Hall ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bipolar Disorder ◽

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Verbal Fluency ◽

Retrosplenial Cortex ◽

Control Group ◽

Verbal Fluency Task ◽

Easy Condition ◽

Bipolar Patients ◽

Mri Study ◽

Fluency Task

BackgroundIndividuals with a history of bipolar disorder demonstrate abnormalities of executive function, even during euthymia. The neural architecture underlying this and its relationship with genetic susceptibility for illness remain unclear.MethodWe assessed 18 remitted individuals with bipolar disorder, 19 of their unaffected first degree relatives and 19 healthy controls using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and a paced verbal fluency task with two levels of difficulty.ResultsBipolar patients made significantly more errors in the easy level of the verbal fluency task than their relatives or controls. Analysis of variance of fMRI data demonstrated a significant main effect of group in a large cluster including retrosplenial cortex and adjacent precuneate cortex (x=7, y=−56, x=15). All three groups showed deactivation in these areas during task performance relative to a neutral or rest condition. Group differences comprised a lesser amount of deactivation in unaffected relatives compared with controls in the easy condition [F(2, 55)=3.42, p=0.04] and in unaffected relatives compared with bipolar patients in the hard condition [F(2, 55)=4.34, p=0.018]. Comparison with the control group indicated that both bipolar patients and their relatives showed similar deficits of deactivation in retrosplenial cortex and reduced activation of left prefrontal cortex.ConclusionsBipolar disorder may be associated with an inherited abnormality of a neural network incorporating left prefrontal cortex and bilateral retrosplenial cortex.

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