Cerebellar hyperactivity during smooth pursuit eye movements in bipolar disorder.
BACKGROUND
Smooth pursuit eye movements (SPEM) are abnormal in individuals with schizophrenia and individuals with bipolar disorder. Functional imaging methods have revealed greater hippocampal activity and less frontotemporal, visual, and posterior cerebellar activity in individuals with schizophrenia when performing a SPEM task. The underlying neurobiology of SPEM deficits in bipolar disorder is unknown.


METHODS
Functional magnetic resonance imaging at 3T was performed on fourteen subjects with bipolar disorder and 14 subjects without psychiatric illness during a block design SPEM task. Clinical measures were assessed on the day of testing and related to imaging measures.


RESULTS
Subjects with bipolar disorder had greater hemodynamic response than control subjects in cerebellar vermis. Responses were associated with levels of depressive symptoms on the day of study.


CONCLUSIONS
Increased cerebellar vermis activity during the smooth pursuit eye movement task in individuals with bipolar disorder further implicates cerebellar involvement in bipolar disorder. Increased hemodynamic response within the hippocampus was not seen in these individuals and may be a finding specific to schizophrenia.
University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Pscyhiatry, Mail Stop F546, 13001 E. 17th Place, Aurora, CO 80045, USA. laura.martin@ucdenver.edu
Laura Frances
LF
Martin
Ann
A
Olincy
Randy G
RG
Ross
Yiping P
YP
Du
Debra
D
Singel
Shireen
S
Shatti
Jason R
JR
Tregellas
D000328:Adult; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011698:Pursuit, Smooth / Q000502:physiology*; D013223:Statistics as Topic
D010100:Oxygen