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. 2022 Mar;2(1):e12068.
doi: 10.1002/jcv2.12068. Epub 2022 Mar 8.

Bipolar spectrum disorders are associated with increased gray matter volume in the medial orbitofrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens

Katherine S F Damme  1 , Lauren B Alloy  2 , Nicholas J Kelley  1 , Ann Carroll  1 , Christina B Young  1 , Jason Chein  2 , Tommy H Ng  2 , Madison K Titone  2 , Corinne P Bart  2 , Robin Nusslock  1
Affiliations

Bipolar spectrum disorders are associated with increased gray matter volume in the medial orbitofrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens

Katherine S F Damme et al. JCPP Adv. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: Elevated sensitivity to rewards prospectively predicts Bipolar Spectrum Disorder (BSD) onset; however, it is unclear whether volumetric abnormalities also reflect BSD risk. BSDs emerge when critical neurodevelopment in frontal and striatal regions occurs in sex-specific ways. The current paper examined the volume of frontal and striatal brain regions in both individuals with and at risk for a BSD with exploratory analyses examining sex-specificity.

Methods: One hundred fourteen medication-free individuals ages 18-27 at low-risk for BSD (moderate-reward sensitivity; N = 37), at high-risk without a BSD (high-reward sensitivity; N = 47), or with a BSD (N = 30) completed a structural MRI scan of the brain. We examined group differences in gray matter volume in a priori medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) and nucleus accumbens (NAcc) regions-of-interest.

Results: The BSD group had enlarged frontostriatal volumes (mOFC, NAcc) compared to low individuals (d = 1.01). The mOFC volume in BSD was larger than low-risk (d = 1.01) and the high-risk groups (d = 0.74). This effect was driven by males with a BSD, who showed an enlarged mOFC compared to low (d = 1.01) and high-risk males (d = 0.74). Males with a BSD also showed a greater NAcc volume compared to males at low-risk (d = 0.49), but not high-risk males.

Conclusions: An enlarged frontostriatal volume (averaged mOFC, NAcc) is associated with the presence of a BSD, while subvolumes (mOFC vs. NAcc) showed unique patterning in relation to risk. We report preliminary evidence that sex moderates frontostriatal volume in BSD, highlighting the need for larger longitudinal risk studies examining the role of sex-specific neurodevelopmental trajectories in emerging BSDs.

Keywords: bipolar spectrum disorder; frontostriatal; gray matter volume; male; reward; risk.

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Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTEREST The authors have declared that they have no competing or potential conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Medial orbitofrontal cortex gray matter volume by risk‐group status and sex: (A) displays the ventral view of the study sample average of the medial orbitofrontal cortex ROI on a study averaged surface front and, (B) displays a medial view of the study sample average of the medial orbitofrontal ROI on the average surface study sample (left on the top panel; right on the bottom panel), (C) a plot of the medial orbitofrontal cortical volume by group and sex with error bars displaying the standard error of the mean. BSD, Bipolar Spectrum Disorder; n.s., non‐significant. **p < 0.005
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Nucleus accumbens volume by risk‐group status and sex: (A) Displays a group average of the nucleus accumbens (purple), which is shown in reference to a study average brain on the left and within the study averaged surface on the right, the top is the coronal view, and the bottom displays the left coronal view, (B) model corrected average of nucleus accumbens volume (mm3) is plotted by group and sex with error bars displaying the standard error of the mean. BSD, Bipolar Spectrum Disorder; n.s., non‐significant. **p < 0.005
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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