Publication in the journal Molecular Psychiatry of a study showing an abnormal profile of functional brain connectivity in patients with bipolar disorder depending on their mood state.

In this study conducted jointly by Sidney KRYSTAL – Rothschild Foundation, Josselin HOUENOU and Pauline FAVRE – IMRB-U955, Leboyer team, Neurospin, Fondamental Foundation, AP-HP, the authors show an abnormal profile of functional cerebral connectivity in patients with bipolar disorder depending on their mood state.

The originality of this study lies in the fact that, inspired by animal models, the authors targeted the sub-nuclei of the amygdala, the brain’s emotional centre, to study their connectivity using resting-state functional MRI.

In addition, using a sample of 127 patients from 3 centres, Neurospin/Créteil, Grenoble and Geneva, they were able to separate patients with depressive symptoms from those with manic symptoms.

They showed decreased connectivity between the lateral nucleus of the right amygdala and the hippocampus in patients with depressive symptoms, and increased connectivity between the medial nucleus of the left amygdala and the ventral part of the nucleus accumbens in patients with manic symptoms.

This discovery gives them a better understanding of the pathophysiology of this disorder and opens up new treatment targets.

Access to article: Molecular Psychiatry, 9 May 2024 (full-text via Insermbiblio)