Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T07:25:12.763Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Hippocampal and amygdala volumes in an older bipolar disorder sample

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 August 2012

Chanaka Wijeratne ,
Sonal Sachdev ,
Wei Wen ,
Olivier Piguet ,
Darren M. Lipnicki ,
Gin S. Malhi ,
Phillip B. Mitchell  and
Perminder S. Sachdev
Chanaka Wijeratne*
Affiliation:
Euroa Centre, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, Australia School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Sonal Sachdev
Affiliation:
School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Wei Wen
Affiliation:
School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia Neuropsychiatric Institute, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, Australia
Olivier Piguet
Affiliation:
Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Darren M. Lipnicki
Affiliation:
School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Gin S. Malhi
Affiliation:
CADE Clinic, Discipline of Psychiatry, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Phillip B. Mitchell
Affiliation:
Euroa Centre, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, Australia School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Perminder S. Sachdev
Affiliation:
School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia Neuropsychiatric Institute, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, Australia
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Dr C. Wijeratne, Euroa Centre, Prince of Wales Hospital, Barker St., Randwick, NSW 2041, Australia. Phone: +61-2-9382-3759; Fax: +61-2-9382-3762. Email: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background: Brain volumetric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of adult bipolar disorder samples, compared with healthy controls, have reported conflicting results in hippocampal and amygdala volumes. Among these, few have studied older bipolar samples, which would allow for examination of the effects of greater duration in mood episodes on brain volumes. The aim of this study was to compare hippocampal and amygdala volumes in older bipolar patients with controls.

Methods: High-resolution MRI scans were used to determine hippocampal and amygdala volumes that were manually traced using established protocols in 18 euthymic patients with DSM-IV bipolar I disorder (mean age 57 years) and 21 healthy controls (mean age 61 years). Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to explore group differences while controlling for intracranial volume (ICV), age, sex, and years of education.

Results: While gray matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid volumes did not differ between the groups, bipolar disorder patients had smaller ICV (t = 2.54, p = 0.015). After correcting for ICV, the bipolar group had smaller hippocampal (left hippocampus F = 13.944, p = 0.001; right hippocampus F = 10.976, p = 0.002; total hippocampus F = 13.566; p = 0.001) and right amygdala (F = 13.317, p = 0.001) volumes. Total hippocampal volume was negatively associated with the duration of depressive (r = −0.636; p = 0.035) and manic (r = −0.659; p = 0.027) episodes, but not lithium use. Amygdala volumes were not associated with the duration of mood episodes.

Conclusions: Older bipolar disorder patients had smaller hippocampal and amygdala volumes. That smaller hippocampal volume was associated with the duration of mood episodes may suggest a neuroprogressive course related to the severity of the disorder.

Keywords

hippocampusamygdalaMRIolder peoplebipolar disorder
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , January 2013 , pp. 54 - 60
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Altshuler, L.et al. (2000). A MRI study of temporal lobe structures in men with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry, 48, 147–162.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Arnone, D.et al. (2009). Magnetic resonance imaging studies in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia: meta-analysis. British Journal of Psychiatry, 195, 194–201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ashburner, J. and Friston, K. (2005). Unified segmentation. NeuroImage, 26, 839–851.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berk, M.et al. (2010). From neuroprogression to neuroprotection: implications for clinical care. Medical Journal of Australia, 193, S36–S40.Google ScholarPubMed
Beyer, J.et al. (2004). Hippocampal volume measurement in older adults with bipolar disorder. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 12, 613–620.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brierly, B., Shaw, P. and David, A. (2002). The human amygdala: a systematic review and meta-analysis of volumetric magnetic resonance imaging. Brain Research Reviews, 39, 84–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delaloye, C.et al. (2009). Neuroanatomical and neuropsychological features of euthymic patients with bipolar disorder. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 17, 1012–1021.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Doty, T., Payne, M., Steffans, D., Beyer, J., Krishnan, K. and Labar, K. (2008). Age-dependent reduction of amygdala volume in bipolar disorder. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 163, 84–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Elliott, R., Zahn, R., Deakin, W. and Anderson, I. (2011). Affective cognition and its disruption in mood disorders. Neuropsychopharmacology, 36, 153–182.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
First, M., Spitzer, R., Gibbon, M. and Williams, J. (1997). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders – Research Version (SCID-RV). Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association Press.Google Scholar
Foland, L.et al. (2008). Increased volume of the amygdala and hippocampus in bipolar patients treated with lithium. NeuroReport, 19, 221–224.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Folstein, M., Folstein, S. and McHugh, P. (1975). “Mini-mental state”: a practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12, 189–198.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frey, B.et al. (2007). The role of hippocampus in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder. Behavioural Pharmacology, 18, 419–430.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hajek, T., Carrey, N. and Alda, M. (2005). Neuroanatomical abnormalities as risk factors for bipolar disorder. Bipolar Disorders, 7, 393–403.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hajek, T., Kopecek, M., Kozeny, J., Gunde, E., Alda, M. and Hoschl, C. (2009). Amygdala volumes in mood disorders – meta-analysis of magnetic resonance volumetry studies. Journal of Affective Disorders 115, 395–410.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hallahan, B.et al. (2011). Structural magnetic resonance imaging in bipolar disorder: an international collaborative mega-analysis of individual adult patient data. Biological Psychiatry, 69, 326–335.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hamilton, M. (1960). A rating scale for depression. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, 23, 56–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hauser, P.et al. (2000). Post RMMRI-based measurements of temporal lobe and ventricular structures in patients with bipolar I and bipolar II disorders. Journal of Affective Disorders 60, 25–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Javadapour, A., Malhi, G., Ivanovski, B., Chen, X., Wen, W. and Sachdev, P. (2010). Hippocampal volumes in adults with bipolar disorder. Journal of Neuropsychiatry Clinical Neuroscience, 22, 55–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maller, J., Anstey, K., Reglade-Meslin, C., Christensen, H., Wen, W. and Sachdev, P. (2007). Hippocampus and amygdala volumes in a random community-based sample of 60–64-year olds and their relationship to cognition. Psychiatry Research, 156, 185–197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Monkul, E., Malhi, G. and Soares, J. (2005). Anatomical MRI abnormalities in bipolar disorder: do they exist and do they progress? Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 39, 222–226.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murphy, D.et al. (1996). Sex differences in human brian morphometry and metabolism: an in-vivo quantitative magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography study of the effect of ageing. Archives of General Psychiatry, 53, 585–594.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sheline, Y., Sanghavi, M., Mintun, M. and Gado, M. (1999). Depression duration but not age predicts hippocampal volume loss in medically healthy women with recurrent major depression. The Journal of Neuroscience, 19, 5034–5043.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strakowski, S., DelBello, M. and Adler, C. (2005). The functional neuroanatomy of bipolar disorder: a review of neuroimaging findings. Molecular Psychiatry, 10, 105–116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Strasser, H.et al. (2005). Hippocampal and ventricular volumes in psychotic and nonpsychotic bipolar patients compared with schizophrenia patients and community control subjects: a pilot study. Biological Psychiatry, 57, 633–639.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sweeney, J., Kmiec, J. and Kupfer, D. (2000). Neuropsychologic impairments in bipolar and unipolar mood disorders on the CANTAB neurocognitive battery. Biological Psychiatry, 48, 674–684.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van Stegeren, A. (2009). Imaging stress effects on memory: a review of neuroimaging studies. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 54, 16–27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Watson, C., Jack, C. and Cendes, F. (1997). Volumetric magnetic resonance imaging: clinical applications and contributions to the understanding of temporal lobe epilepsy. Archives of Neurology, 54, 1521–1531.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, S., Thompson, J., Ritchie, J., Ferrier, N. and Young, A. (2006). Neuropsychological impairment in bipolar disorder: the relationship with glucocorticoid receptor function. Bipolar Disorders, 8, 85–90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Young, R., Biggs, J., Ziegler, V. and Meyer, D. (1978). A rating scale for mania: reliability, validity and sensitivity. British Journal of Psychiatry, 133, 429–435.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed