Neuroanatomical voxel-based profile of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

Abstract

This Section of Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences appears in each issue of the Journal to stress the relevance of epidemiology for behavioral neurosciences, reporting the results of studies that explore the use of an epidemiological approach to provide a better understanding of the neural basis of major psychiatric disorders and, in turn, the utilisation of the behavioural neurosciences for promoting innovative epidemiological research.The ultimate aim is to help the translation of most relevant research findings into every-day clinical practice. These contributions are written in house by the journal's editorial team or commissioned by the Section Editor (no more than 1000 words, short unstructured abstract, 4 key-words, one Table or Although schizophrenia (SCZ) and bipolar disorder (BD) share elements of pathology (Ellison-Wright and Bullmore, 2009), the neural mechanisms underlying these disorders are still under investigation. Up until now, many neuroimaging studies investigated the brain structural differences of SCZ and BD compared with healthy controls (HC), trying to identify the possible neuroanatomical markers for the two disorders. However, just a few studies focused on the brain structural changes between the two diagnoses. The present review summarises the findings of the voxel-based grey matter (GM) comparisons between SCZ and BD, with the objective to highlight the possible consistent anatomical differences between the two disorders. While the comparisons between patients and HC highlighted overlapping areas of GM reduction in insula and anterior cingulate cortex, the SCZ-BD comparisons suggest the presence of more generalised GM deficits in SCZ compared with BD. Indeed, in a number of studies, SCZ patients showed lower GM volumes than BD patients in fronto-temporal cortex, thalamus, hippocampus and amygdala. Conversely, only a couple of studies reported GM deficits in BD compared with SCZ, both at the level of cerebellum. In summary, the two disorders exhibit both common and specific neuroanatomical characteristics, whose knowledge is mandatory to develop innovative diagnostic and treatment strategies. (Email: marcella.bellani@univr.it; paolo.brambilla1@unimi.it)Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences (2016), 25, 312-316.

Gray matter differences between affective and non-affective first episode psychosis: A review of Magnetic Resonance Imaging studies

“…Additionally, two studies observed smaller GM volumes in cingulate gyrus in NA-FEP (Koo et al, 2008) and A-FEP (Morgan et al, 2007) compared to healthy controls, whereas no significant differences were found between the two patient groups. The cingulate gyrus is a cortical area often found to be implicated in BD and SCZ (Baiano et al, 2007;Crow et al, 2013;Maggioni et al, 2016;Squarcina et al, 2017b) due to its involvement in a range of functions, including emotional, cognitive, attentional, nociceptive, and motor functions (Mesulam et al, 2001).…”

Common and distinct structural features of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: The European Network on Psychosis, Affective disorders and Cognitive Trajectory (ENPACT) study

“…Conversely, only a minority of MRI studies directly compared BD and SCZ [ 3 , 12 – 16 ]. A recent review on voxel-based comparisons between SCZ and BD found consistent evidence of GM deficits in SCZ compared to BD [ 17 ]. Region-based studies on SCZ vs .…”

Twin studies for the investigation of the relationships between genetic factors and brain abnormalities in bipolar disorder

“…Many neuroimaging studies demonstrated brain abnormalities in patients affected by BD, afflicting both white and gray matter Maggioni et al 2016).…”

“…Many neuroimaging studies demonstrated brain abnormalities in patients affected by BD, afflicting both white and gray matter Maggioni et al 2016). In particular, the inter-hemispheric connectivity, primarily fronto-limbic and callosal connectivity, results to be disrupted (Brambilla et al 2009;Sprooten et al 2016) and subcortical abnormalities have also been recently reported (Hibar et al 2016).…”