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. 2021 Mar;11(3):e02010.
doi: 10.1002/brb3.2010. Epub 2021 Jan 16.

A network structure of manic symptoms

Giovanni Briganti  1   2 , Charles Kornreich  2 , Paul Linkowski  1
Affiliations

A network structure of manic symptoms

Giovanni Briganti et al. Brain Behav. 2021 Mar.

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study is to explore mania as a network of its symptoms, inspired by the network approach to mental disorders.

Methods: Network structures of both cross-sectional and temporal effects were measured at three time points (admission, middle of hospital stay, and discharge) in a sample of 100 involuntarily committed patients diagnosed with bipolar I disorder with severe manic features and hospitalized in a specialized psychiatric ward.

Results: Elevated mood is the most interconnected symptom in the network on admission, while aggressive behavior and irritability are highly predictive of each other, as well as language-thought disorder and "content" (the presence of abnormal ideas or delusions). Elevated mood is influenced by many symptoms in the temporal network.

Conclusions: The investigation of manic symptoms with network analysis allows for identifying important symptoms that are better connected to other symptoms at a given moment and over time. The connectivity of the manic symptoms evolves over time. Central symptoms could be considered as targets for clinical intervention when treating severe mania.

Keywords: Granger causality; bipolar disorders; centrality; network analysis.

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Conflict of interest statement

None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Network structure of manic symptoms at t 0. Each node represents one of the eleven items from the YMRS. Blue connections represent positive edges, and red connections represent negative edges. The pie chart surrounding each node represents node predictability
Figure 2
Figure 2
Network structure of manic symptoms at t 1. Each node represents one of the eleven items from the YMRS. Blue connections represent positive edges, and red connections represent negative edges. The pie chart surrounding each node represents node predictability
Figure 3
Figure 3
Network structure of manic symptoms at t 2. Each node represents one of the eleven items from the YMRS. Blue connections represent positive edges, red connections represent negative edges. The pie chart surrounding each node represents node predictability
Figure 4
Figure 4
Network structure of manic symptoms at t 0, t 1, and t 2. Each node represents one of the eleven items from the YMRS. Blue connections represent positive edges, and red connections represent negative edges. The pie chart surrounding each node represents node predictability. Only edges with a weight greater than 0.1 are reported
Figure 5
Figure 5
Network predictability values for the t 0 (red line), t 1 (green line), and t 2 (blue line) networks a standardized z values
Figure 6
Figure 6
Temporal network
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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