Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2010 Oct;49(10):1064-80.
doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2010.07.009.

Emotion processing influences working memory circuits in pediatric bipolar disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Alessandra M Passarotti  1 , John A Sweeney, Mani N Pavuluri
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Emotion processing influences working memory circuits in pediatric bipolar disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Alessandra M Passarotti et al. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2010 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: This functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study examined how working memory circuits are affected by face emotion processing in pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Methods: A total of 23 patients with PBD, 14 patients with ADHD, and 19 healthy control (HC) subjects (mean age, 13.36 ± 2.55 years) underwent an affective, two-back fMRI task with blocks of happy, angry, and neutral faces.

Results: For angry versus neutral faces PBD patients, relative to ADHD patients, exhibited increased activation in the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and orbitofrontal cortex, and reduced activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and premotor cortex. Relative to the HC group, the PBD group showed no increased activation and reduced activation at the junction of DLPFC and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC). Relative to HC, the ADHD patients exhibited greater activation in the DLPFC and reduced activation in the ventral and medial PFC, pregenual ACC, striatum, and temporo-parietal regions. For happy versus neutral faces, relative to the ADHD group, the PBD group exhibited greater activation in the bilateral caudate, and relative to the HC group the ADHD group showed increased activation in the DLPFC, striatal, and parietal regions, and no reduced activation. The ADHD group, compared with the HC group, showed no reduced activation and increased activation in regions that were underactive for the angry face condition.

Conclusions: Relative to the ADHD group, the PBD group exhibited greater deployment of the emotion-processing circuitry and reduced deployment of working memory circuitry. Commonalities across PBD and ADHD patients, relative to the HC individuals, entailed cortico-subcortical activity that was reduced under negative emotional challenge and increased under positive emotional challenge.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Illustration of match trials in the 2-back working memory task, with happy, neutral and angry faces.
Figure 2
Figure 2
a) Between-group differences in significant clusters of brain activation for the Angry vs. Neutral face contrast. Note: Red indicates greater activation in the first group compared to the second group. Blue indicates greater activation in the second group compared to the first group. PBD vs ADHD: DLPFC= 378 mm3 p<.02; Subgen ACC=324 mm3 p<.02. PBD vs HC: IFG=297 mm3 p<.02. ADHD vs HC: left VLPFC=621 mm3 p<.02; right VLPFC=945 mm3 p<.02; left dACC=621 mm3 p<.02; right dACC=324 mm3 p<.02. b) Between-group differences in significant clusters of brain activation for the Happy vs. Neutral face contrast. Red indicates greater activation in the first group compared to the second group. Blue indicates greater activation in the second group compared to the first group. PBD vs ADHD: left caudate= 1053 mm3 p<.02; right caudate= 432 mm3 p<.02. PBD vs HC: left DLPFC=2349 mm3 p<.02; left caudate=1296 mm3 p<.02. ADHD vs HC: left DLPFC=783 mm3 p<.02; right DLPFC=351 mm3 p<.02; left dACC=648 mm3 p<.02; left VLPFC=729 mm3 p<.02. Note that the right side of the brain image corresponds to the left hemisphere (i.e., Right=Left). ADHD = Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder group; dACC = dorsal anterior cingulate cortex; DLPFC = dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; HC=Healthy Controls; IFG = inferior frontal gyrus; PBD = Pediatric Bipolar Disorder group; Subgen ACC=subgenual ACC VLPFC = ventrolateral prefrontal cortex.
Figure 2
Figure 2
a) Between-group differences in significant clusters of brain activation for the Angry vs. Neutral face contrast. Note: Red indicates greater activation in the first group compared to the second group. Blue indicates greater activation in the second group compared to the first group. PBD vs ADHD: DLPFC= 378 mm3 p<.02; Subgen ACC=324 mm3 p<.02. PBD vs HC: IFG=297 mm3 p<.02. ADHD vs HC: left VLPFC=621 mm3 p<.02; right VLPFC=945 mm3 p<.02; left dACC=621 mm3 p<.02; right dACC=324 mm3 p<.02. b) Between-group differences in significant clusters of brain activation for the Happy vs. Neutral face contrast. Red indicates greater activation in the first group compared to the second group. Blue indicates greater activation in the second group compared to the first group. PBD vs ADHD: left caudate= 1053 mm3 p<.02; right caudate= 432 mm3 p<.02. PBD vs HC: left DLPFC=2349 mm3 p<.02; left caudate=1296 mm3 p<.02. ADHD vs HC: left DLPFC=783 mm3 p<.02; right DLPFC=351 mm3 p<.02; left dACC=648 mm3 p<.02; left VLPFC=729 mm3 p<.02. Note that the right side of the brain image corresponds to the left hemisphere (i.e., Right=Left). ADHD = Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder group; dACC = dorsal anterior cingulate cortex; DLPFC = dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; HC=Healthy Controls; IFG = inferior frontal gyrus; PBD = Pediatric Bipolar Disorder group; Subgen ACC=subgenual ACC VLPFC = ventrolateral prefrontal cortex.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Galanter CA, Leibenluft E. Frontiers between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and bipolar disorder. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America. 2008;17:325–346. - PubMed
    1. Insel TR, Cuthbert BN. Endophenotypes: bridging genomic complexity and disorder heterogeneity. Biological Psychiatry. 2009;66(11):988–989. - PubMed
    1. Geller B, Warner K, Williams M, Zimerman B. Prepubertal and young adolescent bipolarity versus ADHD: Assessment and validity using the WASH-U-KSADS, CBCL, and TRF. Journal of Affect Disorder. 1998;51(2):93–100. - PubMed
    1. Pavuluri MN, O’Connor MM, Harral EM, Sweeney JA. Affective neural circuitry during facial emotion processing in pediatric bipolar disorder. Biological Psychiatry. 2007;62(2):158–167. - PubMed
    1. Pavuluri MN, Passarotti AM. Neural bases of emotional processing in pediatric bipolar disorder. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics. 2008;8(9):1381–1387. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms