12. What do these circuits to? Amygdala Association of stimuli with reward and punishment Anterior Cingulate Processing conflicting info Effortful cognitive processing Dorsal PFC Maintenance/ Manipulation of task relevant info Cognitive set shifting Planning Ventral PFC Maintenance/ Manipulation of incentive info Response modification when contingencies change Planning
13. Copyright restrictions may apply. Kempton, M. J. et al. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2008;65:1017-1032. Continuous variables from the bipolar-control meta-analysis Meta-analysis of brain structural changes
14. RISK - Insula Involved emotional recall and self-regulation of affect Connected to the cingulate cortex and the brainstem RESILIENCE – Cerebellar Vermis Involved in the homeostatic control of autonomic function Contributes to the adaptive control of complex behaviour DISEASE – Substantia Nigra Has high concentration of D2 receptors Highest level of expression of the vesicular monoamine transporter gene, which is associated with BD Kempton et al. submitted Brain Structure and Bipolar “Spectrum”
16. Aetiology and Ethnicity in Schizophrenia and Other Psychosis (AESOP) : Premorbid and Post onset IQ Zanelli et al. Am J Psychiatry 2010 106 44 14 48 41 264
17. Stefanopoulou at al. 2009 Meta-analytic evidence: IQ decrement in chronic patients
18. Normal age related gray matter volume changes in BD Sarnicola et al. Bipol Disord. 2009 age from scanned 70.00 60.00 50.00 40.00 30.00 20.00 grey 1.000000 0.900000 0.800000 0.700000 0.600000 0.500000 control patient control patient pat_code1 R Sq Linear = 0.115 R Sq Linear = 0.184 Age (years) 70 60 50 40 30 20 1.00 0.90 0.80 0.70 0.60 0.50 control patient control patient R Sq Linear = 0.115 R Sq Linear = 0.184
19. Increased risk of dementia in BD Kessing et al. J Affect Disord 2000 100 97 94 0 10 20 diabetes artritis mania depression
20. Total white matter volume and IQ predict GAF score in BD patients Forcada et al. submitted
One off the most common questions asked by patients and relatives is how long the need to stay on medication. Angst and his colleagues estimated the risk of relapse in patients with mood disorders over a 40 year period. Bipolar patients had a higher risk of relapse than unipolar depressives but for both conditions the risk remained constant throughout the 40 year period and averaged a rate of one episode every two years. No gender differences were noted. This evidence suggests that there is no period when the risk of relapse is zero and is therefore safe to discontinue treatment. Patients should be made aware of this but of course the decision of how to manage the risk of relapse rests with them.
I have added this slide to alert you to new evidence regarding the role of lithium and perhaps valproate in other aspects of treatment of bipolar disorder. There is some evidence that lithium may have neuroprotective properties as shown in this study. Here patients treated with lithium for a period of the month showed an increase in the grey matter volume. There is a lot of research currently focusing on exploring further the neuroprotective effects of lithium. At the very least such evidence suggests that recommendations for long-term treatment with lithium are probably unlikely to have adverse effects on the brain.