Anatomical abnormalities of the anterior cingulate and paracingulate cortex in patients with bipolar I disorder

Fornito, Alex; Malhi, Gin S.; Lagopoulos, Jim; Ivanovski, Belinda; Wood, Stephen J.; Saling, Michael M.; Pantelis, Christos; Yücel, Murat

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2007.06.004

« Previous Next »Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
Volume 162, Issue 2 , Pages 123-132, 28 February 2008

Anatomical abnormalities of the anterior cingulate and paracingulate cortex in patients with bipolar I disorder

Alex Fornito
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
- Department of Psychology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
- Corresponding author. Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Levels 2 and 3, National Neuroscience Facility, Alan Gilbert Building, 161 Barry St., Carlton South, Vic 3053, Australia. Tel.: +61 3 8344 1800; fax: +61 3 9348 0469.
Gin S. Malhi
- Department of Psychological Medicine, Northern Clinical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
- CADE clinic, Department of Psychiatry, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia
Jim Lagopoulos
- Department of Psychological Medicine, Northern Clinical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
- CADE clinic, Department of Psychiatry, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia
Belinda Ivanovski
- Department of Psychological Medicine, Northern Clinical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
- CADE clinic, Department of Psychiatry, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia
Stephen J. Wood
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Michael M. Saling
- Department of Psychology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Christos Pantelis
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
- Howard Florey Institute, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Murat Yücel
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
- ORYGEN Research Centre, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

Received 20 October 2006; received in revised form 17 April 2007; accepted 4 June 2007.

Abstract

Abnormalities of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) are thought to be involved in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder, but structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) studies have reported variable findings. Reasons for this include a failure to consider variability in regional cortical folding patterns and a reliance on relatively coarse measures (e.g., volume) to index anatomical change. We sought to overcome these limitations by combining a novel protocol for parcellating the ACC and adjacent paracingulate cortex (PaC) that accounts for inter-individual variations in sulcal and gyral morphology with a cortical surface-based approach that allowed calculation of regional grey matter volume, surface area and cortical thickness in 24 patients with bipolar I disorder and 24 matched controls. No changes in grey matter volume or surface area were identified in any region, but patients did show significant reductions in cortical thickness in the left rostral PaC and right dorsal PaC that were not attributable to group differences in cortical folding patterns. These findings suggest that bipolar disorder is associated with more pronounced changes in the PaC, and that reliance on volumetric measures alone may obscure more subtle differences.

Keywords: Prefrontal, Depression, Mood, Voxel, Gyrification, Psychosis