Frontolimbic brain volume abnormalities in bipolar disorder with suicide attempts. (December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Jabbi, Mbemba; Weber, Wade; Welge, Jeffrey; Nery, Fabiano; Tallman, Maxwell; Gable, Austin; Fleck, David E.; Lippard, Elizabeth T.C.; DelBello, Melissa; Adler, Caleb; Strakowski, Stephen M.
• Is Part Of: Psychiatry research. Volume 294(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-12
• Subjects: Bipolar I Disorder -- Mood Status -- Suicide Attempt -- Gray Matter Volume -- Brain -- Behavior; Psychiatry -- Periodicals; Psychiatry -- periodicals; Psychiatrie -- Périodiques; 616.89
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113516
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0165-1781

Abstract

Highlights: Suicide is a significant health problem, especially in bipolar disorder, but the neurobiological basis for suicide attempts remains obscure. We found that GMV reduction in anterior cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex associated with bipolar disorder, and suicide attempt history also correlated with suicidal ideation scores. Abstract: Over 2.3 million people in the United States live with bipolar disorder. Sixty percent of those with a bipolar disorder diagnosis attempt suicide at least once in their lifetime and up to 19% die by suicide. However, the neurobiology of suicide attempts in bipolar disorder remains unclear. We studied the gray matter volume (GMV) of 81 participants with a bipolar-I diagnosis (age-range: 14-34 years old) and 40 healthy participants (age-range 14.7-32 years old) to compare their neuroanatomy and histories of suicide attempt. In the bipolar group, 42 were manic with ages ranging from 14-30.6 years, and 39 were depressed with ages ranging from 14-34.3 years). Twenty three bipolar participants had a suicide attempt history, and 58 had no suicide attempt history. All participants completed behavioral/diagnostic assessments and MRI. We focused on a predefined frontolimbic circuitry in bipolar disorder versus controls to first identify diagnostic GMV correlates and to specifically identify GMV correlates for suicide attempt history. We found reduced GMV in bipolar diagnosis versus controls in the subgenual cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices. Our observed regional GMV reductions were associated with histories of suicide attempts and measures of individual variations in current suicidal ideation at the time of scanning.