title: Preliminary evidence for progressive prefrontal abnormalities in adolescents and young adults with bipolar disorder.
abstract: Previous cross-sectional study of ventral prefrontal cortex (VPFC) implicated progressive volume abnormalities during adolescence in bipolar disorder (BD). In the present study, a within-subject, longitudinal design was implemented to examine brain volume changes during adolescence/young adulthood. We hypothesized that VPFC volume decreases over time would be greater in adolescents/young adults with BD than in healthy comparison adolescents/young adults. Eighteen adolescents/young adults (10 with BD I and 8 healthy comparison participants) underwent two high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging scans over approximately 2 years. Regional volume changes over time were measured. Adolescents/young adults with BD displayed significantly greater volume loss over time, compared to healthy comparison participants, in a region encompassing VPFC and rostral PFC and extending to rostral anterior cingulate cortex (p < .05). Additional areas where volume change differed between groups were observed. While data should be interpreted cautiously due to modest sample size, this study provides preliminary evidence to support the presence of accelerated loss in VPFC and rostral PFC volume in adolescents/young adults with BD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06511, USA. jessica.kalmar@yale.edu
authors.forename: Jessica H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kalmar
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Edmiston
authors.forename: Cheryl M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Lacadie
authors.forename: Andrés
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: R Todd
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Constable
authors.forename: James S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Duncan
authors.forename: Lawrence H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Staib
authors.forename: Xenophon
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Papademetris
authors.forename: Hilary P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Blumberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000473:pathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000473:pathology*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000002:abnormalities*; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult