Gray matter abnormalities as brain structural vulnerability factors for bipolar disorder: A review of neuroimaging studies of individuals at high genetic risk for bipolar disorder.

Objective: Cortical and subcortical gray matter abnormalities have been reported in individuals at high genetic risk for bipolar disorder, but the findings are inconsistent. The aim of this study was to review the available literature to identify common findings that could represent brain structural vulnerability factors for bipolar disorder and to discuss challenges for the advancement of the field.

Method: A systematic search was conducted using the PubMed database to identify all original articles investigating cortical or subcortical gray matter abnormalities in first-degree relatives of bipolar disorder patients.

Major depressive disorder severity and the frequency of painful physical symptoms: a pooled analysis of observational studies.

Objective: This retrospective post-hoc analysis of observational studies assesses the frequency of painful physical symptoms (PPS) in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) of varied severity as may be seen in clinical practice.

Methods: Observational studies of MDD that collected a clinician-reported measure of depression severity and included assessment of PPS were screened for this individual patient-level analysis. Six observational studies were included that enrolled outpatients with a diagnosis of MDD (assessed using the 17-item Hamilton depression scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Depression, or Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology).

Trait impulsivity is increased in bipolar disorder patients with comorbid alcohol use disorders.

Background: Up to 60% of bipolar disorder (BD) patients develop alcohol use disorders (AUD) at some point in their lives. The causes of this highly prevalent comorbidity are unknown. High trait impulsivity characterizes both isolated BD and AUD and may be a link to explain the association between BD and AUD.

Association between prior alcohol use disorders and decreased prefrontal gray matter volumes in bipolar I disorder patients.

Up to 50% of bipolar disorder (BD) patients present a lifetime diagnosis of alcohol use disorders (AUD). BD patients with comorbid AUD, even when in remission from the AUD, have a poorer outcome and functional impairment than patients with BD alone. The neurobiological abnormalities that potentially characterize this severe subgroup of BD patients are unknown.

Abnormal resting state corticolimbic blood flow in depressed unmedicated patients with major depression: a (15)O-H(2)O PET study.

We investigated the differences in the resting state corticolimbic blood flow between 20 unmedicated depressed patients and 21 healthy comparisons. Resting state cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured with H(2)(15)O PET. Anatomical MRI scans were performed on an Elscint 1.