title: Perception of social stimuli in mania: an fMRI study.
abstract: Patients with mania show alterations of social behaviour. Neuropsychological studies in euthymic bipolar disorder (BD) have revealed deficits in cognitive, but not emotional aspects of social cognition (SC). Here, we studied the neural signature of social stimulus processing in mania. We expected alterations in regions associated with cognitive SC (dorsal-medial prefrontal cortex, dMPFC). Participants comprised 14 manic patients and 14 matched healthy controls who viewed standardized pictures with social and non-social content during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Region-of-interest-analyses focused on areas related to SC (dorsal/ventral medial prefrontal cortex; temporo-parietal junction), determined by a quantitative meta-analysis. Between-group comparisons ('social>non-social') revealed reduced BOLD responses in the right dMPFC in manic patients, but no significant group difference in the ventral MPFC. In addition, manic patients showed elevated BOLD activation in the right temporo-parietal junction during perception of social stimuli, which was correlated with increased delusional ideation. Patients with mania show diminished BOLD responses to social stimuli in the right dMPFC, associated with cognitive SC and this may be related to reported deficits in understanding others' mental states. At the same time, manic patients show hyperactivation of the right temporo-parietal junction, likely related to exaggerated attribution of meaning to social stimuli.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité Campus Mitte, Charité - Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Tatiana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Usnich
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité Campus Mitte, Charité - Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Spengler
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité Campus Mitte, Charité - Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Bastian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sajonz
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité Campus Mitte, Charité - Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Dorrit
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Herold
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité Campus Mitte, Charité - Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany; Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: felix.bermpohl@charite.de.
authors.forename: Felix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bermpohl
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D059907:Functional Neuroimaging; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D010465:Perception; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012919:Social Behavior
keywords: Bipolar disorder; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic resonance imaging; Mania; Social cognition