Neurostructural Correlates of Cannabis Use in Adolescent Bipolar Disorder

Abstract Objective Little is known regarding the association of cannabis use with brain structure in adolescents with bipolar disorder (BD). This subject is timely, given expanded availability of cannabis contemporaneously with increased social acceptance and diminished societal constraints to access. Therefore, we set out to examine this topic in a sample of adolescents with BD and healthy control (HC) adolescents. Methods Participants included 144 adolescents (47 BD with cannabis use [BDCB+; including 13 with cannabis use disorder], 34 BD without cannabis use [BDCB-], 63 HC without cannabis use) ages 13-20 years. FreeSurfer-processed 3T MRI with T1-weighted contrast, yielded measures of cortical thickness, surface area (SA), and volume. Region of interest (ROI; amygdala, hippocampus, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex [vlPFC], ventromedial prefrontal cortex [vmPFC], and anterior cingulate cortex [ACC]), analyses and exploratory vertex-wise analysis were undertaken. A general linear model tested for between-group differences, accounting for age, sex, and intracranial volume. Results Vertex-wise analysis revealed significant group effects in frontal and parietal regions. In post-hoc analyses, BDCB+ exhibited larger volume and SA in parietal regions, and smaller thickness in frontal regions, relative to HC and BDCB-. BDCB- had smaller volume, SA and thickness in parietal and frontal regions relative to HC. There were no significant ROI findings after correcting for multiple comparisons. Conclusion This study found that cannabis use is associated with differences in regional brain structure among adolescents with BD. Future prospective studies are necessary to determine the direction of the observed association and to assess for dose effects.

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Increased Cerebral Blood Flow Associated with Better Response Inhibition in Bipolar Disorder

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society ◽

10.1017/s135561771400112x ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 21 (2) ◽

pp. 105-115 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Sheena I. Dev ◽

Benjamin S. McKenna ◽

Ashley N. Sutherland ◽

David D. Shin ◽

Thomas T. Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bipolar Disorder ◽

Blood Flow ◽

Cerebral Blood Flow ◽

Color Word ◽

Region Of Interest ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Group Differences ◽

Or Education ◽

Significant Group ◽

Inhibition Performance

AbstractImpairment on inhibitory tasks has been well documented in bipolar disorder (BD). Differences in cerebral blood flow (CBF) between BD patients and healthy comparison (HC) participants have also been reported. Few studies have examined the relationship between cognitive performance and regional CBF in this patient population. We hypothesized that group differences on an inhibitory task (the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function Scale’s Color-Word Inhibition task) would be associated with differential CBF in bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), inferior parietal lobule (IPL) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) regions. Whole brain resting CBF was measured using Multiphase Pseudocontinuous Arterial Spin Labeling MR imaging for 28 euthymic BD and 36 HC participants. Total gray matter (GM) CBF was measured, and regional CBF values were extracted for each region of interest (ROI) using Freesurfer-based individual parcellations. Group, CBF, and group-by-CBF interaction were examined as predictors of inhibition performance. Groups did not differ in age, gender or education. BD patients performed significantly worse on Color-Word inhibition. There were no significant group differences in CBF in either total GM or in any ROI. There was a group by CBF interaction in the bilateral ACC, right IPL and right DLPFC such that better inhibitory performance was generally associated with higher resting state CBF in BD subjects, but not HC participants. Although CBF was not abnormal in this euthymic BD sample, results confirm previous reports of inter-episode inhibitory deficits and indicate that the perfusion-cognition relationship is different in BD compared to HC individuals. (JINS, 2015, 21, 105–115)

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Antioxidative Defense Genes and Brain Structure in Youth Bipolar Disorder

The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology ◽

10.1093/ijnp/pyab056 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Yi Zou ◽

Kody G Kennedy ◽

Anahit Grigorian ◽

Lisa Fiksenbaum ◽

Natalie Freeman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Oxidative Stress ◽

Bipolar Disorder ◽

Surface Area ◽

Brain Structure ◽

Interaction Effects ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Blood Levels ◽

Allele Carrier ◽

Intracranial Volume ◽

Genotype Group

Abstract Background Oxidative stress is implicated in the neuropathology of bipolar disorder (BD). We investigated the association of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the antioxidative genes superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) and glutathione peroxidase 3 (GPX3) with structural neuroimaging phenotypes in youth BD. Methods SOD2 rs4880 and GPX3 rs3792797 SNP genotypes, along with structural magnetic resonance imaging, were obtained from 147 youth (BD=75; healthy controls (HC)=72). Images were processed using FreeSurfer, yielding surface area, volume, and thickness values for regions of interest (ROI; prefrontal cortex (PFC), caudal anterior cingulate cortex (cACC), hippocampus) and for vertex-wise whole brain analysis. Analyses controlled for age, sex, race, and intracranial volume for volume area, and thickness analyses. Result ROI analyses revealed diagnosis-by-SOD2 rs4880 interaction effects for cACC volume and surface area, and PFC volume; in each case, there was lower volume/area in the BD GG genotype group vs. the HC GG genotype group. There was a significant BD diagnosis x GPX3 rs3793797 interaction effect for PFC surface area, where area was lower in the BD A-allele carrier group vs. the other genotype groups. Vertex-wise analyses revealed significant interaction effects in frontal, temporal, and parietal regions, related to smaller brain structure in the BD SOD2 rs4880 GG group and BD GPX3 rs3793797 A-allele carrier group. Conclusion We found preliminary evidence that SOD2 rs4880 and GPX3 rs3792797 are differentially associated with brain structure in youth with BD, in regions that are relevant to BD. Further studies incorporating additional neuroimaging phenotypes and blood levels of oxidative stress markers are warranted.

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Impaired Subcortical Detection of Auditory Changes in Schizophrenia but Not in Major Depression

Schizophrenia Bulletin ◽

10.1093/schbul/sbz027 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 46 (1) ◽

pp. 193-201 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Arnim Johannes Gaebler ◽

Jana Zweerings ◽

Jan Willem Koten ◽

Andrea Anna König ◽

Bruce I Turetsky ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Major Depression ◽

Auditory Processing ◽

Region Of Interest ◽

Auditory Pathway ◽

Consistent Finding ◽

Healthy Control ◽

Patient Groups ◽

Processing Deficits ◽

Cortical Dysfunction

Abstract The mismatch negativity is a cortical response to auditory changes and its reduction is a consistent finding in schizophrenia. Recent evidence revealed that the human brain detects auditory changes already at subcortical stages of the auditory pathway. This finding, however, raises the question where in the auditory hierarchy the schizophrenic deficit first evolves and whether the well-known cortical deficit may be a consequence of dysfunction at lower hierarchical levels. Finally, it should be resolved whether mismatch profiles differ between schizophrenia and affective disorders which exhibit auditory processing deficits as well. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to assess auditory mismatch processing in 29 patients with schizophrenia, 27 patients with major depression, and 31 healthy control subjects. Analysis included whole-brain activation, region of interest, path and connectivity analysis. In schizophrenia, mismatch deficits emerged at all stages of the auditory pathway including the inferior colliculus, thalamus, auditory, and prefrontal cortex. In depression, deficits were observed in the prefrontal cortex only. Path analysis revealed that activation deficits propagated from subcortical to cortical nodes in a feed-forward mechanism. Finally, both patient groups exhibited reduced connectivity along this processing stream. Auditory mismatch impairments in schizophrenia already manifest at the subcortical level. Moreover, subcortical deficits contribute to the well-known cortical deficits and show specificity for schizophrenia. In contrast, depression is associated with cortical dysfunction only. Hence, schizophrenia and major depression exhibit different neural profiles of sensory processing deficits. Our findings add to a converging body of evidence for brainstem and thalamic dysfunction as a hallmark of schizophrenia.

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Fronto-limbic-striatal dysfunction in pediatric and adult patients with bipolar disorder: impact of face emotion and attentional demands

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s003329171300202x ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 44 (8) ◽

pp. 1639-1651 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

M. A. Brotman ◽

W.-L. Tseng ◽

A. K. Olsavsky ◽

S. J. Fromm ◽

E. J. Muhrer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bipolar Disorder ◽

Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽

Region Of Interest ◽

Task Demands ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Implicit Processing ◽

Fearful Faces ◽

Attentional Condition ◽

Passive Viewing ◽

The Face

BackgroundResearch in bipolar disorder (BD) implicates fronto-limbic-striatal dysfunction during face emotion processing but it is unknown how such dysfunction varies by task demands, face emotion and patient age.MethodDuring functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), 181 participants, including 62 BD (36 children and 26 adults) and 119 healthy comparison (HC) subjects (57 children and 62 adults), engaged in constrained and unconstrained processing of emotional (angry, fearful, happy) and non-emotional (neutral) faces. During constrained processing, subjects answered questions focusing their attention on the face; this was processed either implicitly (nose width rating) or explicitly (hostility; subjective fear ratings). Unconstrained processing consisted of passive viewing.ResultsPediatric BD rated neutral faces as more hostile than did other groups. In BD patients, family-wise error (FWE)-corrected region of interest (ROI) analyses revealed dysfunction in the amygdala, inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and putamen. Patients with BD showed amygdala hyperactivation during explicit processing (hostility ratings) of fearful faces and passive viewing of angry and neutral faces but IFG hypoactivation during implicit processing of neutral and happy faces. In the ACC and striatum, the direction of dysfunction varied by task demand: BD demonstrated hyperactivation during unconstrained processing of angry or neutral faces but hypoactivation during constrained processing (implicit or explicit) of angry, neutral or happy faces.ConclusionsFindings suggest amygdala hyperactivation in BD while processing negatively valenced and neutral faces, regardless of attentional condition, and BD IFG hypoactivation during implicit processing. In the cognitive control circuit involving the ACC and putamen, BD neural dysfunction was sensitive to task demands.

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The effects of gender on grey matter abnormalities in major psychoses: a comparative voxelwise meta-analysis of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291711001450 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 42 (2) ◽

pp. 295-307 ◽

Cited By ~ 59

Author(s):

E. Bora ◽

A. Fornito ◽

M. Yücel ◽

C. Pantelis

Keyword(s):

Bipolar Disorder ◽

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Negative Symptoms ◽

Grey Matter ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Limiting Factor ◽

Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽

Male Dominated

BackgroundRecent evidence from genetic and familial studies revitalized the debate concerning the validity of the distinction between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Comparing brain imaging findings is an important avenue to examine similarities and differences and, therefore, the validity of the distinction between these conditions. However, in contrast to bipolar disorder, most patient samples in studies of schizophrenia are predominantly male. This a limiting factor for comparing schizophrenia and bipolar disorder since male gender is associated with more severe neurodevelopmental abnormalities, negative symptoms and cognitive deficits in schizophrenia.MethodWe used a coordinate-based meta-analysis technique to compare grey matter (GM) abnormalities in male-dominated schizophrenia, gender-balanced schizophrenia and bipolar disorder samples based on published voxel-based morphometry (VBM) studies. In total, 72 English-language, peer reviewed articles published prior to January 2011 were included. All reports used VBM for comparing schizophrenia or bipolar disorder with controls and reported whole-brain analyses in standard stereotactic space.ResultsGM reductions were more extensive in male-dominated schizophrenia compared to gender-balanced bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. In gender-balanced samples, GM reductions were less severe. Compared to controls, GM reductions were restricted to dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia and ACC and bilateral fronto-insular cortex in bipolar disorder.ConclusionsWhen gender is controlled, GM abnormalities in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are mostly restricted to regions that have a role in emotional and cognitive aspects of salience respectively. Dorsomedial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex were the only regions that showed greater GM reductions in schizophrenia compared to bipolar disorder.

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A role for the paravermis in the control of verbal interference: comparison of bilingual and monolingual adults

10.31234/osf.io/n5wqk ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

roberto filippi

Keyword(s):

Brain Structure ◽

Grey Matter ◽

Region Of Interest ◽

Vocabulary Knowledge ◽

Structure Sensitivity ◽

Interference Control ◽

Regional Patterns ◽

Significant Group ◽

Linguistic Interference ◽

Sentence Interpretation

We evaluate brain structure sensitivity to verbal interference in a sentence interpretation task, building on previously reported evidence that those with better control of verbal interference show higher grey matter density in the posterior paravermis of the right cerebellum (Filippi et al., 2011). We compare brain structure sensitivity to verbal interference control across two groups, English monolingual (N = 41) and multilingual (N = 46) adults. Using voxel-based morphometry, our primary goal was to identify and explore differences in regional patterns of grey matter sensitivity to performance on the sentence interpretation task, controlling for group variability in age, nonverbal reasoning and vocabulary knowledge. There was no group difference in performance but there was a significant group effect in grey matter sensitivity to task performance in our region of interest: stronger sensitivity in the paravermis in bilinguals compared to monolinguals in accuracy performance in the high (relative to low) verbal interference condition. This effect was observed when the linguistic interference was presented in an unfamiliar language (Greek) but not when presented in the familiar language (English). Our findings suggest that multilanguage acquisition mediates regional involvement within the language network, conferring enhanced functional plasticity within structures (including the paravermis) in the service of control of linguistic interference.

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Neural Structure and Organization of Mood Pathology

The Oxford Handbook of Mood Disorders ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199973965.013.19 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. 213-224

Author(s):

Brianne Disabato ◽

Isabelle E. Bauer ◽

Jair C. Soares ◽

Yvette Sheline

Keyword(s):

Bipolar Disorder ◽

Major Depressive Disorder ◽

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

White Matter ◽

Depressive Disorder ◽

Neural Mechanisms ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Neural Structure ◽

Major Depressive ◽

Dorsolateral Prefrontal

Unipolar major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD) are among the world’s leading causes of disability. This chapter highlights the importance of neuroimaging in understanding their neural mechanisms. Depression affects limbic-corticostriatopallidothalamic regions. Structurally, depressed subjects showed increased volume of lesions in white matter (WMH) and decreased gray matter in prefrontal-striatum, orbitofrontal, anterior cingulate cortices, and hippocampus. Functionally, depressed subjects showed abnormal activation in amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex and dsyconnectivity in executive and emotional networks. BD was associated with frontocingulate, limbic-striatal, and hippocampus abnormalities. Specifically, BD subjects showed increased WMH in frontocortical and subcortical areas and altered microstructure in limbic-striatal, cingulate, thalamus, corpus callosum, and prefrontal regions. Functionally, abnormal activations in dorsolateral prefrontal and ventrolimbic regions, hypoconnectivity in the cinguloinsularopercular, mesoparalimbic, and cerebellar networks, and hyperconnectivity in affective and executive networks were also observed. These studies show congruence. Full integration of them would allow better understanding of mood disorders.

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S159. SUBCORTICAL GRAY MATTER VOLUME IS ASSOCIATED WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA AND WITH BOTH ITS FAMILIAL AND CLINICAL RISK

Schizophrenia Bulletin ◽

10.1093/schbul/sbaa031.225 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 46 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S96-S97

Author(s):

Roberta Passiatore ◽

Linda A Antonucci ◽

Leonardo Fazio ◽

Barbara Gelao ◽

Andrea Falsetti ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gray Matter ◽

Gray Matter Volume ◽

Familial Risk ◽

Structural Features ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Group Differences ◽

Intracranial Volume ◽

Significant Group ◽

Clinical Risk

Abstract Background Patients with schizophrenia (SCZ) show lower volumetric estimates of gray matter (GM) than healthy controls (HC). Similar results have been reported in healthy siblings of patients (SIB). However, it is unclear whether this phenotype is also present in individuals at clinical high-risk (CHR), characterized by sub-threshold symptoms and loss of functioning. We hypothesized that GM volumetric differences are associated with both familial and clinical risk for schizophrenia Methods We processed the T1-weighted MRI scans acquired at 3 Tesla of 544 HC, 63 SIB, 20 CHR and 120 SCZ using CAT12. We used ANCOVA to assess group differences (HC vs. CHR vs. SIB vs. SCZ), with linear and quadratic age, gender and total intracranial volume as nuisance covariates. We assessed the reproducibility of our case/control findings in an independent sample of 127 HC and 36 SCZ. Group differences were tested post hoc through Fisher’s test. Results We found significant group effects in the bilateral thalamus, bilateral hippocampus and anterior cingulate (FWE<0.05). Specifically, SCZ presented the lowest GM volume in these regions compared to the other three groups, with SIB and CHR’s GM estimates intermediate between HC and SCZ (p<0.05). The associations with schizophrenia were replicated in the independent validation sample. Discussion Individuals with familial or clinical risk for schizophrenia have lower GM estimates in the same brain regions. These findings, suggest that these structural features are not only associated with familial risk for schizophrenia but that they are also associated with its sub-threshold symptoms.

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The protective impact of education on brain structure and function in Alzheimer’s Disease

10.21203/rs.3.rs-73112/v2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Wanqiu Zhu ◽

Xiaoshu Li ◽

Xiaohu Li ◽

Haibao Wang ◽

Meiqin Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Frontal Cortex ◽

Brain Structure ◽

Structure And Function ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Angular Gyrus ◽

Intracranial Volume ◽

Brain Structure And Function ◽

And Function

Abstract Background: The Cognitive Reserve (CR) theory posits that brains with higher reserve can cope with more cerebral damage to minimize clinical manifestations. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of education (CR proxy) on brain structure and function in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) patients and in cognitively healthy elderly (HC) individuals.Methods: Fifty-seven AD patients, 57 aMCI patients and 48 HCs were included to investigate the relationships between education years and gray matter volume (GMV), regional homogeneity (ReHo) and functional connectivity (FC) in brain regions to show associations with both structure and function. Taking the severity of the disease into account, we further assessed the relationships in AD stratified analyses.Results: In AD group, the GMV of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and ReHo in the left inferior temporal cortex (ITC) were inversely associated with education years, after adjustment for age, sex, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and total intracranial volume or head motion parameters. Seed-based FC analyses revealed that education years were negatively correlated with the FC between the left anterior ITC and left mid frontal cortex as well as right superior frontal cortex and right angular gyrus. Stratified analyses results indicated that this negative relation between education and GMV, ReHo, FC was mainly present in mild AD, which was attenuated in moderate AD and aMCI groups.Conclusions: Our results support the CR theory, and suggest that CR may be protective against AD related brain pathology at the early stage of clinical dementia. These findings could provide the locus of CR-related functional brain mechanisms and a specific time-window for therapeutic interventions to help AD patients to cope better with the brain pathological damage by increasing CR.

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Emotional imagination of negative situations: Functional neuroimaging in anorexia and bulimia

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0231684 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. e0231684

Author(s):

Federico D’Agata ◽

Paola Caroppo ◽

Angela Spalatro ◽

Luca Lavagnino ◽

Giovanni Abbate Daga ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Functional Neuroimaging ◽

Negative Emotions ◽

A Priori ◽

Emotion Processing ◽

Region Of Interest ◽

Resistance Mechanisms ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

First Episode ◽

Therapeutic Resistance ◽

Significant Group

Aim The present study aims to extend the knowledge of the neural correlates of emotion processing in first episode subjects affected by anorexia nervosa (AN) or bulimia nervosa (BN). We applied an emotional distress paradigm targeting negative emotions thought to be relevant for interpersonal difficulties and therapeutic resistance mechanisms. Methods The current study applied to 44 female participants with newly diagnosed AN or BN and 20 matched controls a neuroimaging paradigm eliciting affective responses. The measurements also included an extensive assessment comprising clinical scales, neuropsychological tests, measures of emotion processing and empathy. Results AN and BN did not differ from controls in terms of emotional response, emotion matching, self-reported empathy and cognitive performance. However, eating disorder and psychopathological clinical scores, as well as alexithymia levels, were increased in AN and BN. On a neural level, no significant group differences emerged, even when focusing on a region of interest selected a priori: the amygdala. Some interesting findings put in relation the hippocampal activity with the level of Body Dissatisfaction of the participants, the relative importance of the key nodes for the common network in the decoding of different emotions (BN = right amygdala, AN = anterior cingulate area), and the qualitative profile of the deactivations. Conclusions Our data do not support the hypothesis that participants with AN or BN display reduced emotional responsiveness. However, peculiar characteristics in emotion processing could be associated to the three different groups. Therefore, relational difficulties in eating disorders, as well as therapeutic resistance, could be not secondary to a simple difficulty in feeling and identifying basic negative emotions in AN and BN participants.

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