Smaller left anterior cingulate cortex in non-bipolar relatives of patients with bipolar disorder

Objective: Bipolar disorder (BD) is highly heritable. The present study aimed at identifying brain morphometric features that could represent markers of BD vulnerability in non-bipolar relatives of bipolar patients. Methods: In the present study, structural magnetic resonance imaging brain scans were acquired from a total of 93 subjects, including 31 patients with BD, 31 non-bipolar relatives of BD patients, and 31 healthy controls. Volumetric measurements of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), lateral ventricles, amygdala, and hippocampus were completed using the automated software FreeSurfer. Results: Analysis of covariance (with age, gender, and intracranial volume as covariates) indicated smaller left ACC volumes in unaffected relatives as compared to healthy controls and BD patients (p = 0.004 and p = 0.037, respectively). No additional statistically significant differences were detected for other brain structures. Conclusion: Our findings suggest smaller left ACC volume as a viable biomarker candidate for BD.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Sanches,Marsal, Amorim,Edilberto, Mwangi,Benson, Zunta-Soares,Giovana B., Soares,Jair C.
Format:	Digital revista
Language:	English
Published:	Associação Brasileira de Psiquiatria 2019
Online Access:	http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-44462019000300254
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!