Amygdala subnuclei volume in bipolar spectrum disorders: Insights from diffusion-based subsegmentation and a high-risk design.

Amygdala abnormalities are widely documented in bipolar spectrum disorders (BSD). Amygdala volume typically is measured after BSD onset; thus, it is not known whether amygdala abnormalities predict BSD risk or relate to the disorder. Additionally, past literature often treated the amygdala as a homogeneous structure, and did not consider its distinct subnuclei and their differential connectivity to other brain regions.

The interactive association of proximal life stress and cumulative HPA axis functioning with depressive symptoms.

Background: Stress is consistently implicated in depression. Using a vulnerability-stress framework, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis may be one factor affecting the stress-depression association. However, the interactive influence of recent life stress and HPA axis functioning on depressive symptoms remains unclear.

Everyday executive function in focal onset pediatric epilepsy on the parent-report BRIEF2.

Executive function (EF) difficulties are a core neuropsychological feature of pediatric epilepsy, and parent-report measures of EF concerns are an important complement to task-based EF measures. The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) has shown sensitivity to parent-reported EF concerns in epilepsy and other pediatric populations. We compared profiles of parent-reported EF concerns using the BRIEF and its revision, the BRIEF2, in 117 pediatric patients with focal onset epilepsy to examine the clinical utility of the revised scale.

Impulsive personality dimensions are associated with altered behavioral performance and neural responses in the monetary incentive delay task.

Individual differences in dimensions of impulsivity personality including disinhibition and sensation seeking modulate approach responses to reinforcing stimuli, such as drugs and money. The current study examined the effects of monetary incentive on both behavioral performance and electrophysiological activity among individuals varying in disinhibition and sensation seeking. The monetary incentive delay (MID) task was completed under electroencephalogram (EEG) recording.

Impulsivity predicts the onset of DSM-IV-TR or RDC hypomanic and manic episodes in adolescents and young adults with high or moderate reward sensitivity.

Background: A growing body of research suggests that bipolar disorders (BD) are associated with high impulsivity. Using a multi-method approach, the current study provided the first examination of the hypothesis that impulsivity would prospectively predict shorter time to onset of DSM-IV-TR or RDC hypomanic or manic episodes in a sample selected based on reward sensitivity, a biobehavioral trait shown to predict onset and course of BD.

Methods: 163 participants with high reward sensitivity and 114 participants with moderate reward sensitivity were followed every six months for an average of 2.

Associations between sleep disturbance, cognitive functioning and work disability in Bipolar Disorder.

Bipolar Disorder (BD) is associated with impairment in a number of areas including poor work functioning, often despite the remission of mood symptoms. The present study aimed to examine the role of sleep disturbance and cognitive functioning in occupational impairment in BD. Twenty-four euthymic BD participants and 24 healthy control participants completed a week of prospective assessment of sleep disruption via self-report and actigraphy, a battery of neuropsychological tests of executive functioning, working memory, and verbal learning, and assessments of work functioning.

Cognitive Styles in Mood Disorders: Discriminative Ability of Unipolar and Bipolar Cognitive Profiles.

Although previous research has identified cognitive styles that distinguish individuals with bipolar disorder (BD), individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD), and individuals without mood disorders from one another, findings have been inconsistent. The current study included 381 participants classified into a BD group, a MDD group, and a no mood disorder group. To differentiate between these groups, this study evaluated cognitive styles with a battery of traditional and more recently-developed measures.

Behavioral approach system sensitivity and risk taking interact to predict left-frontal EEG asymmetry.

The Behavioral Approach System (BAS) hypersensitivity theory of bipolar disorder (BD; Alloy & Abramson, 2010; Depue & Iacono, 1989) suggests that hyperreactivity in the BAS results in the extreme fluctuations of mood characteristic of BD. In addition to risk conferred by BAS hypersensitivity, cognitive and personality variables may play a role in determining risk. We evaluated relationships among BAS sensitivity, risk taking, and an electrophysiological correlate of approach motivation, relative left-frontal electroencephalography (EEG) asymmetry.

Differentiating bipolar disorder from unipolar depression and ADHD: the utility of the general behavior inventory.

Adolescence and early adulthood are the peak ages for the onset of unipolar and bipolar mood disorders. Moreover, for most individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), symptoms and impairment begin in childhood but persist well into adolescence and adulthood (e.g.

Aggression and impulsivity as predictors of stress generation in bipolar spectrum disorders.

Background: Some evidence suggests that individuals with bipolar spectrum disorders (BSD) generate stressful life events, contributing to a more severe course of disorder. A recent update to the Behavioral Approach System (BAS) dysregulation theory of BSD highlights the need to investigate anger as approach motivation. Although research has shown that individuals with BSD generate stress, it is unclear whether personality traits characteristic of BSD, such as aggression and impulsivity, are related to this stress generation.

Positive overgeneralization and Behavioral Approach System (BAS) sensitivity interact to predict prospective increases in hypomanic symptoms: a behavioral high-risk design.

Recent work has identified Behavioral Approach System (BAS) sensitivity as a risk factor for the first onset and recurrence of mood episodes in bipolar disorder, but little work has evaluated risk factors for the prospective development of hypomanic symptoms in individuals at risk for, but without a history of, bipolar disorder. The present study used a prospective behavioral high-risk design to evaluate the impact of positive overgeneralization, a cognitive correlate of risk for hypomania, on hypomanic symptoms in individuals with high vs. moderate BAS sensitivity, but without a history of mood elevation.