Right orbitofrontal corticolimbic and left corticocortical white matter connectivity differentiate bipolar and unipolar depression.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

The absence of pathophysiologically relevant diagnostic markers of bipolar disorder (BD) leads to its frequent misdiagnosis as unipolar depression (UD). We aimed to determine whether whole brain white matter connectivity differentiated BD from UD depression.

Methods

We employed a three-way analysis of covariance, covarying for age, to examine whole brain fractional anisotropy (FA), and corresponding longitudinal and radial diffusivity, in currently depressed adults: 15 with BD-type I (mean age 36.3 years, SD 12.0 years), 16 with recurrent UD (mean age 32.3 years, SD 10.0 years), and 24 healthy control adults (HC) (mean age 29.5 years, SD 9.43 years). Depressed groups did not differ in depression severity, age of illness onset, and illness duration.

Results

SUBMITTER: Versace A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3743239 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature