Hippocampal volumes in adults with bipolar disorder.

Functional neuroimaging studies have implicated the hippocampus formation in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder, but findings from volumetric studies have been less consistent. The authors aim to further investigate the existence of volumetric abnormalities in the hippocampus of individuals with bipolar disorder. In addition to methodological inconsistencies, many previous studies have been lacking clinical robustness with respect to characterizing bipolar patients and comparison subjects.

Anatomical abnormalities of the anterior cingulate and paracingulate cortex in patients with bipolar I disorder.

Abnormalities of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) are thought to be involved in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder, but structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) studies have reported variable findings. Reasons for this include a failure to consider variability in regional cortical folding patterns and a reliance on relatively coarse measures (e.g.

Increased anterior cingulate cortex volume in bipolar I disorder.

Objective: Functional neuroimaging studies have implicated the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder (BD), but findings from volumetric studies have been less consistent, therefore the purpose of the present study was to further investigate the existence of volumetric abnormalities in the ACC cortex of individuals with BD. In addition to methodological inconsistencies many previous studies have been lacking robustness clinically with respect to characterizing bipolar patients and comparison subjects. Hence, the present study matched the groups closely across a number of demographic parameters.

Is a lack of disgust something to fear? A functional magnetic resonance imaging facial emotion recognition study in euthymic bipolar disorder patients.

Objectives: To determine the neural responses invoked in the recognition of facial fear and disgust in euthymic bipolar patients as compared with healthy subjects.

Methods: This study examined 10 female euthymic bipolar patients, and 10 suitably matched healthy subjects using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while subjects were engaged in an explicit facial emotion recognition task involving fear, disgust and neutral expressions. The activation paradigm involved nominating the facial expression using specified response keys.

An event-related functional MRI study of working memory in euthymic bipolar disorder.

Objective: Bipolar disorder (BD) is emerging as an illness marred by neurocognitive deficits, many of which do not resolve on recovery. Deficits affecting working memory (WM) in particular appear to be significant. WM comprises temporally separated biological processes that involve the on-line retention and manipulation of information.

Regional gray matter changes in bipolar disorder: a voxel-based morphometric study.

Objective: To investigate structural abnormalities in bipolar disorder (BD) using optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM) in closely matched patients and controls, and to examine the relationship of clinical features with regional gray matter (GM) volumes.

Methods: Twenty-four patients (six male) aged 19-59 years (mean=38.21 years, SD=11.

The psychological and neurophysiological concomitants of mindfulness forms of meditation.

Objective: To provide a comprehensive review and evaluation of the psychological and neurophysiological literature pertaining to mindfulness meditation.

Methods: A search for papers in English was undertaken using PsycINFO (from 1804 onward), MedLine (from 1966 onward) and the Cochrane Library with the following search terms: Vipassana, Mindfulness, Meditation, Zen, Insight, EEG, ERP, fMRI, neuroimaging and intervention. In addition, retrieved papers and reports known to the authors were also reviewed for additional relevant literature.

Neuropsychological deficits and functional impairment in bipolar depression, hypomania and euthymia.

Objective: To examine whether patients with bipolar disorder (BD) have subtle neuropsychological deficits that manifest clinically as cognitive and functional compromise, and this study attempted to determine the pattern of such cognitive deficits and their functional impact across all three phases of BD. We hypothesised that euthymia does not equate with normal neuropsychological function and that each phase has a characteristic pattern of deficits, with disturbance in attention and memory being common across all phases of the illness: (i) bipolar depression - psychomotor slowing and impairment of memory; (ii) hypomania by frontal-executive deficits and (iii) euthymia - a mild disturbance of attention, memory and executive function.

Methods: Twenty-five patients with a diagnosis of bipolar I disorder underwent neuropsychological testing over a period of 30 months in the natural course of their illness while hypomanic and/or depressed and/or euthymic.

Reduced activation to implicit affect induction in euthymic bipolar patients: an fMRI study.

Objective: To examine whether euthymic bipolar patients engage similar or contrasting brain regions as healthy subjects when responding to implicit affect induction.

Methods: The study examined 10 euthymic patients with bipolar I disorder, and 10 age- and gender-matched healthy subjects using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while subjects engaged in a modified word-based memory task designed to implicitly evoke negative, positive or no affective change. The activation paradigm involved nominating whether a target word was contained within a previously presented word list using specified response keys.

Cognitive compromise in bipolar disorder with chronic cannabis use: cause or consequence?

This article briefly reviews the neuropsychological deficits associated with bipolar disorder and examines how substance abuse, in particular chronic cannabis use, may contribute to these. The focus of the article is cannabis, owing to its popularity in patients with bipolar disorder, although many studies focus on its use in conjunction with other substances. The findings are contextualized within bipolar disorder, examining functional outcome.

Cerebrovascular autoregulation as a neuroimaging tool.

Functional transcranial Doppler (fTCD) sonography provides a high temporal resolution measure of blood flow and has over the years proved to be a valuable tool in the clinical evaluation of patients with cerebrovascular disorders. More recently, due to advances in physics and computing, it has become possible to derive indices of cerebrovascular autoregulation (CA) as well as cerebrovascular pressure reactivity (CR), using non-invasive techniques. These indices provide a dynamic representation of the brain's regulatory blood flow mechanisms not only in pathological states but also in health.

A matter of motion or an emotional matter? Management of depression in Parkinson's disease.

Depression is one of the most frequent comorbidities occurring in Parkinson's disease, affecting up to 50% of patients. Depression is associated with severe negative symptoms and has been shown to contribute to an increased rate of decline of both cognitive and motor function, profoundly impacting on the patient's quality of life. The symptoms of depression overlap with the motor features of Parkinson's disease, making detection difficult.

An emotional Stroop functional MRI study of euthymic bipolar disorder.

Objective: To identify the brain regions associated with emotional processing in euthymic bipolar patients.

Methods: The study examined 12 euthymic bipolar patients using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing an emotional Stroop (eStroop) task. The task comprised emotionally valent and neutral words presented in alternating blocks that was designed to implicitly induce affect.

Bipolar disorder: it's all in your mind? The neuropsychological profile of a biological disorder.

Objective: To compare and contrast the neuropsychological profile of the 3 phases of bipolar disorder (BD) to achieve a better definition of BD and to identify potential state and trait deficits.

Methods: We conducted a search for English-language papers published in journals from 1965 onward, using the following terms in Medline and Embase: neuropsychology or neuropsychological and BD, depression, mania, and euthymia. We scrutinized suitable subheadings and retrieved familiar papers and literature.

Cognitive generation of affect in hypomania: an fMRI study.

Objective: To identify the brain regions associated with the cognitive generation of affect in hypomanic bipolar patients.

Methods: The study examined 10 hypomanic female subjects with bipolar affective disorder, and 10 age- and sex-matched comparison subjects using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while viewing alternating blocks of captioned-pictures designed to evoke negative, positive or no affective change. The activation paradigm involved the presentation of the same visual materials over three experiments alternating (a) negative and reference, (b) positive and reference and (c) positive and negative captioned-pictures.

Cognitive generation of affect in bipolar depression: an fMRI study.

Individuals with bipolar disorder manifest the full spectrum of emotions ranging from depression to mania. In attempting to understand the functional substrates of mood we attempted to identify brain regions associated with the cognitive generation of affect in bipolar depressed patients. We therefore examined ten depressed female subjects with bipolar affective disorder, and ten age-matched and sex-matched healthy comparison subjects using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while viewing alternating blocks of captioned pictures designed to evoke negative, positive or no affective change.