TY - JOUR
T1 - Cognitive performances associate with measures of white matter integrity in bipolar disorder
AU - Poletti, Sara
AU - Bollettini, Irene
AU - Mazza, Elena
AU - Locatelli, Clara
AU - Radaelli, Daniele
AU - Vai, Benedetta
AU - Smeraldi, Enrico
AU - Colombo, Cristina
AU - Benedetti, Francesco
PY - 2015/3/15
Y1 - 2015/3/15
N2 - Background Neuropsychological deficits constitute enduring trait-like features in bipolar disorder (BD), and persist in euthymia. White matter (WM) abnormalities are one of the most consistently reported findings in neuroimaging studies of BD. We hypothesized that neuropsychological performances could correlate with WM integrity in a sample of bipolar patients in core WM tracts.Methods Seventy-eight patients affected by BD were evaluated for verbal memory, working memory, psychomotor coordination, executive functions, attention and information processing, and verbal fluency through the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia. White matter integrity was evaluated using DTI and tract-based spatial statistics with threshold free cluster enhancement (p>0.949).Results We observed that cognitive performances in attention and information processing, working memory, executive functions and psychomotor coordination were associated with DTI measures of WM integrity in several association fibres: inferior and superior longitudinal fasciculus, inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, cingulum bundle, corpus callosum, and corona radiata. Limitation The drug treatments administered during the course of the illness could have influenced DTI measures and neurocognitive function. Other limitations include issues such as generalizability due to the lack of a control group, possible undetected past comorbidities, population stratification, and the presence of a 28% of patients which previously experienced delusions.Conclusions This is the first study to use a validated cognitive battery to investigate the principal cognitive domains in BD. Our data confirm the importance of WM integrity as a neurobiological underpinning of cognitive deficits.
AB - Background Neuropsychological deficits constitute enduring trait-like features in bipolar disorder (BD), and persist in euthymia. White matter (WM) abnormalities are one of the most consistently reported findings in neuroimaging studies of BD. We hypothesized that neuropsychological performances could correlate with WM integrity in a sample of bipolar patients in core WM tracts.Methods Seventy-eight patients affected by BD were evaluated for verbal memory, working memory, psychomotor coordination, executive functions, attention and information processing, and verbal fluency through the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia. White matter integrity was evaluated using DTI and tract-based spatial statistics with threshold free cluster enhancement (p>0.949).Results We observed that cognitive performances in attention and information processing, working memory, executive functions and psychomotor coordination were associated with DTI measures of WM integrity in several association fibres: inferior and superior longitudinal fasciculus, inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, cingulum bundle, corpus callosum, and corona radiata. Limitation The drug treatments administered during the course of the illness could have influenced DTI measures and neurocognitive function. Other limitations include issues such as generalizability due to the lack of a control group, possible undetected past comorbidities, population stratification, and the presence of a 28% of patients which previously experienced delusions.Conclusions This is the first study to use a validated cognitive battery to investigate the principal cognitive domains in BD. Our data confirm the importance of WM integrity as a neurobiological underpinning of cognitive deficits.
KW - Bipolar disorder
KW - Executive functions
KW - Information processing
KW - Psychomotor coordination
KW - White matter integrity
KW - Working memory
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jad.2014.12.030
DO - 10.1016/j.jad.2014.12.030
M3 - Article
C2 - 25553397
AN - SCOPUS:84920186590
VL - 174
SP - 342
EP - 352
JO - Journal of Affective Disorders
JF - Journal of Affective Disorders
SN - 0165-0327
ER -