Total white matter hyperintensity volume in bipolar disorder patients and their healthy relatives.

Objectives: White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are more common in subjects with bipolar disorder (BP) than in healthy subjects (HS). Few studies have examined the effect of the diagnostic type of bipolar illness on WMH burden, and none have approached this question through a direct measurement of the volume of affected white matter in relationship to familiality. In this pilot study, we utilized a volumetric measurement of WMH to investigate the relationship between the total volume of WMH and the familiality and type of BP.

Neuropsychological functioning in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Background: Some patients with bipolar disorder (BD) demonstrate neuropsychological deficits even when stable. However, it remains unclear whether these differ qualitatively from those seen in schizophrenia (SZ).

Methods: We compared the nature and severity of cognitive deficits shown by 106 patients with SZ and 66 patients with BD to 316 healthy adults (NC).

Neural correlates of the object-recall process in semantic memory.

The recall of an object from features is a specific operation in semantic memory in which the thalamus and pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) are integrally involved. Other higher-order semantic cortices are also likely to be involved. We used the object-recall-from-features paradigm, with more sensitive scanning techniques and larger sample size, to replicate and extend our previous results.

Abnormal object recall and anterior cingulate overactivation correlate with formal thought disorder in schizophrenia.

Background: The neural basis of formal thought disorder (FTD) is unknown. An influential theory is that FTD results from impaired semantic memory processing. We explored the neural correlates of semantic memory retrieval in schizophrenia using an imaging task assessing semantic object recall.