OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of lithium, anticonvulsants and antipsychotics on brain structure in bipolar disorder (BD). METHOD: A cross-sectional structural brain magnetic resonance imaging study of 74 remitted patients with BD, aged 18-65, who were receiving long-term prophylactic treatment with lithium or anticonvulsants or antipsychotics. Global and regional grey matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid volumes were compared between treatment groups. RESULTS: Grey matter in the subgenual anterior cingulate gyrus on the right (extending into the hypothalamus) and in the postcentral gyrus, the hippocampus/amygdale complex and the insula on the left was greater in BD patients on lithium treatment compared to all other treatment groups. CONCLUSION: Lithium treatment in BD has a significant effect on brain structure particularly in limbic/paralimbic regions associated with emotional processing.
The effects of lithium and anticonvulsants on brain structure in bipolar disorder / Germana, C; Kempton, Mj; Sarnicola, A; Christodoulou, T; Haldane, M; Hadjulis, M; Girardi, Paolo; Tatarelli, Roberto; Frangou, S.. - In: ACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA. - ISSN 0001-690X. - STAMPA. - 122:(2010), pp. 481-487. [10.1111/j.1600-0447.2010.01582.x]
The effects of lithium and anticonvulsants on brain structure in bipolar disorder
GIRARDI, Paolo;TATARELLI, Roberto;
2010
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of lithium, anticonvulsants and antipsychotics on brain structure in bipolar disorder (BD). METHOD: A cross-sectional structural brain magnetic resonance imaging study of 74 remitted patients with BD, aged 18-65, who were receiving long-term prophylactic treatment with lithium or anticonvulsants or antipsychotics. Global and regional grey matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid volumes were compared between treatment groups. RESULTS: Grey matter in the subgenual anterior cingulate gyrus on the right (extending into the hypothalamus) and in the postcentral gyrus, the hippocampus/amygdale complex and the insula on the left was greater in BD patients on lithium treatment compared to all other treatment groups. CONCLUSION: Lithium treatment in BD has a significant effect on brain structure particularly in limbic/paralimbic regions associated with emotional processing.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
