Volumetric, cortical thickness and white matter integrity alterations in bipolar disorder type I and II

Dr Jerome Maller

MAPrc researcher Dr Jerome Maller recently published an article which looks at volumetric, cortical thickness and white matter integrity alterations in bipolar disorder type I and II.

According to the study, bipolar disorder is a debilitating psychiatric disorder affecting millions of people worldwide with mean time to diagnosis estimated to be at least 10 years. Whilst many brain imaging studies have compared those with bipolar disorder to controls, few have attempted to investigate differences between bipolar disorder type I and II and matched controls.

The study looked at thirty-one patients with bipolar disorder (16 Type I and 15 Type II) and 31 matched healthy controls. Participants were MRI brain scanned with conventional T1-weighted and diffusion tensor imaging methods.

It found that there was significantly reduced regional brain volume and thickness among the bipolar disorder subjects, but also between bipolar disorder Type I when compared to Type II. White matter integrity also differed between the groups and bipolar disorder severity correlated significantly with regional brain volume and thickness.

These findings suggest that there are not only regional brain volumetric, thickness and white matter integrity differences between bipolar disorder and matched controls, but also between those with bipolar disorder Type I and Type II, such that reduced regional brain volume may underlie bipolar disorder Type I whereas white matter integrity is more altered in bipolar disorder Type II.

Click here to read the full study.