Mood-state effects on amygdala volume in bipolar disorder

Background: Prior structural neuroimaging studies of the amygdala in patients with bipolar disorder have reported higher or lower volumes, or no difference relative to healthy controls. These inconsistent findings may have resulted from combining subjects in different mood states. The prefrontal cortex has recently been reported to have a lower volume in depressed versus euthymic bipolar patients. Here we examined whether similar mood state-dependent volumetric differences are detectable in the amygdala. Methods: Forty subjects, including 28 with bipolar disorder type I (12 depressed and 16 euthymic), and 12 healthy comparison subjects were scanned on a 3 T magnetic resonance image (MRI) scanner. Amygdala volumes were manually traced and compared across subject groups, adjusting for sex and total brain volume. Results: Statistical analyses found a significant effect of mood state and hemisphere on amygdala volume. Subsequent comparisons revealed that amygdala volumes were significantly lower in the depressed bipolar group compared to both the euthymic bipolar (p =0.005) and healthy control (p = 0.043) groups. Limitations: Our study was cross-sectional and some patients were medicated. Conclusions: Our results suggest that mood state influences amygdala volume in subjects with bipolar disorder. Future studies that replicate these findings in unmedicated patient samples scanned longitudinally are needed. Published by Elsevier B.V.