White matter microstructure in obesity and bipolar disorders: an ENIGMA bipolar disorder working group study in 2186 individuals.

Although specific risk factors for brain alterations in bipolar disorders (BD) are currently unknown, obesity impacts the brain and is highly prevalent in BD. Gray matter correlates of obesity in BD have been well documented, but we know much less about brain white matter abnormalities in people who have both obesity and BD. We obtained body mass index (BMI) and diffusion tensor imaging derived fractional anisotropy (FA) from 22 white matter tracts in 899 individuals with BD, and 1287 control individuals from 20 cohorts in the ENIGMA-BD working group.

A preliminary investigation of the clinical and cognitive correlates of circulating vitamin D in bipolar disorder.

The role that vitamin D plays in the cognitive and clinical characteristics of bipolar disorder (BD) is unclear. We examined differences in the levels and deficiency status of vitamin D in an Australian sample of BD patients compared to healthy controls; and determined the extent to which vitamin D is associated with clinical variables and cognitive function in the sample. 22 healthy controls and 55 stable outpatients with a diagnosis of BD and low-grade mood symptomatology provided a sample of blood and completed cognitive tests and clinical measures.

Brain Morphological Characteristics of Cognitive Subgroups of Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorders and Bipolar Disorder: A Systematic Review with Narrative Synthesis.

Despite a growing body of research, there is yet to be a cohesive synthesis of studies examining differences in brain morphology according to patterns of cognitive function among both schizophrenia-spectrum disorder (SSD) and bipolar disorder (BD) individuals. We aimed to provide a systematic overview of the morphological differences-inclusive of grey and white matter volume, cortical thickness, and cortical surface area-between cognitive subgroups of these disorders and healthy controls, and between cognitive subgroups themselves. An initial search of PubMed and Scopus databases resulted in 1486 articles of which 20 met inclusion criteria and were reviewed in detail.

Characterization of facial emotion recognition in bipolar disorder: Focus on emotion mislabelling and neutral expressions.

Increasing evidence suggests that facial emotion recognition is impaired in bipolar disorder (BD). However, patient-control differences are small owing to ceiling effects on the tasks used to assess them. The extant literature is also limited by a relative absence of attention towards identifying patterns of emotion misattribution or understanding whether neutral faces are mislabelled in the same way as ones displaying emotion.

Characterising Demographic, Clinical and Functional Features of Cognitive Subgroups in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Review.

Considerable cognitive heterogeneity is present within the schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD) population. Several subgroups characterised by more homogenous cognitive profiles have been identified. It is not yet clear however, whether these subgroups represent different points along a continuum of cognitive symptom severity, or whether they reflect unique profiles of the disorder.

Characterization and interrelationships of theory of mind, socially competitive emotions and affective empathy in bipolar disorder.

Objective: Evidence shows impaired theory of mind (ToM) in patients with bipolar disorder (BD), yet research examining its cognitive and affective components simultaneously is sparse. Moreover, recognition of socially competitive 'fortune of others' emotions (e.g.

A Systematic Review of Cognition-Brain Morphology Relationships on the Schizophrenia-Bipolar Disorder Spectrum.

The nature of the relationship between cognition and brain morphology in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (SSD) and bipolar disorder (BD) is uncertain. This review aimed to address this, by providing a comprehensive systematic investigation of links between several cognitive domains and brain volume, cortical thickness, and cortical surface area in SSD and BD patients across early and established illness stages. An initial search of PubMed and Scopus databases resulted in 1486 articles, of which 124 met inclusion criteria and were reviewed in detail.

The mental health and lifestyle impacts of COVID-19 on bipolar disorder.

Background: It is unclear how those with bipolar disorder (BD) have been affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This study aimed to obtain a more detailed understanding of the current mental health needs of these individuals, which is important for both the development of intervention strategies to better manage patient distress and to better prepare for similar circumstances in future.

Methods: The sample comprised 43 individuals with a verified diagnosis of BD and 24 healthy controls.

Brain morphology does not clearly map to cognition in individuals on the bipolar-schizophrenia-spectrum: a cross-diagnostic study of cognitive subgroups.

Background: Characterisation of brain morphological features common to cognitively similar individuals with bipolar disorder (BD) and schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) may be key to understanding their shared neurobiological deficits. In the current study we examined whether three previously characterised cross-diagnostic cognitive subgroups differed among themselves and in comparison to healthy controls across measures of brain morphology.

Method: T1-weighted structural magnetic resonance imaging scans were obtained for 143 individuals; 65 healthy controls and 78 patients (SSD, n = 40; BD I, n = 38) classified into three cross-diagnostic cognitive subgroups: Globally Impaired (n = 24), Selectively Impaired (n = 32), and Superior/Near-Normal (n = 22).

Cognitive validation of cross-diagnostic cognitive subgroups on the schizophrenia-bipolar spectrum.

Background: Cognitive heterogeneity in schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) and bipolar disorder (BD) has been explored using clustering analyses. However, the resulting subgroups have not been cognitively validated beyond measures used as clustering variables themselves. We compared the emergent cross-diagnostic subgroups of SSD and BD patients on measures used to classify them, and also across a range of alternative cognitive measures assessing some of the same constructs.