Altered resting-state functional connectivity of striatal-thalamic circuit in bipolar disorder

PLoS One. 2014 May 2;9(5):e96422. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0096422. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Bipolar disorder is characterized by internally affective fluctuations. The abnormality of inherently mental state can be assessed using resting-state fMRI data without producing task-induced biases. In this study, we hypothesized that the resting-state connectivity related to the frontal, striatal, and thalamic regions, which were associated with mood regulations and cognitive functions, can be altered for bipolar disorder. We used the Pearson's correlation coefficients to estimate functional connectivity followed by the hierarchical modular analysis to categorize the resting-state functional regions of interest (ROIs). The selected functional connectivities associated with the striatal-thalamic circuit and default mode network (DMN) were compared between bipolar patients and healthy controls. Significantly decreased connectivity in the striatal-thalamic circuit and between the striatal regions and the middle and posterior cingulate cortex was observed in the bipolar patients. We also observed that the bipolar patients exhibited significantly increased connectivity between the thalamic regions and the parahippocampus. No significant changes of connectivity related to the frontal regions in the DMN were observed. The changed resting-state connectivity related to the striatal-thalamic circuit might be an inherent basis for the altered emotional and cognitive processing in the bipolar patients.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Algorithms
  • Bipolar Disorder / diagnostic imaging
  • Bipolar Disorder / physiopathology*
  • Connectome / methods
  • Corpus Striatum / diagnostic imaging
  • Corpus Striatum / physiopathology*
  • Female
  • Gyrus Cinguli / diagnostic imaging
  • Gyrus Cinguli / physiopathology
  • Humans
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / methods
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Models, Neurological
  • Nerve Net / physiopathology
  • Neural Pathways / physiopathology
  • Radiography
  • Rest
  • Thalamus / diagnostic imaging
  • Thalamus / physiopathology*

Grants and funding

The study was funded in part by the National Science Council (NSC 101-2221-E-010-004-MY2, NSC102-2314-B-010-059), the National Science Council supported for the Center for Dynamical Biomarkers and Translational Medicine, National Central University, Taiwan (NSC 102-2911-I-008-001), the Taipei City Hospital (102TPECH10) and Brain Research Center, National Yang-Ming University and a grant from Ministry of Education, Aim for the Top University Plan. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.