Increased Amygdala Activation During Mania: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

OBJECTIVE: This study sought to investigate neural activity in the amygdala during episodes of mania. METHOD: Nine manic subjects and nine healthy comparison subjects underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing a neuropsychological paradigm known to activate the amygdala....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American journal of psychiatry 2005-06, Vol.162 (6), p.1211-1213
Main Authors: Altshuler, Lori, Bookheimer, Susan, Proenza, Manuel A., Townsend, Jennifer, Sabb, Fred, Firestine, Ann, Bartzokis, George, Mintz, Jim, Mazziotta, John, Cohen, Mark S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Affect - physiology
Amygdala - physiopathology
Biological and medical sciences
Bipolar Disorder - physiopathology
Brain Mapping
Brain research
Emotions - physiology
Facial Expression
Female
Frontal Lobe - physiopathology
Functional Laterality - physiology
Health risk assessment
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging - statistics & numerical data
Male
Mania
Manic depression
Medical sciences
Mood disorders
Neural Pathways - physiopathology
Neurons
Neuropsychological Tests
NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Reaction Time - physiology
Visual Perception - physiology
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Summary:OBJECTIVE: This study sought to investigate neural activity in the amygdala during episodes of mania. METHOD: Nine manic subjects and nine healthy comparison subjects underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing a neuropsychological paradigm known to activate the amygdala. Subjects viewed faces displaying affect (experimental task) and geometric forms (control task) and matched them to one of two simultaneously presented similar images. RESULTS: Manic subjects had significantly increased activation in the left amygdala and reduced bilateral activation in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex relative to the comparison subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Increased activation in the amygdala and decreased activation in the orbitofrontal cortex may represent disruption of a specific neuroanatomic circuit involved in mania. These brain regions may be implicated in disorders involving regulation of affect.
ISSN:0002-953X
1535-7228
DOI:10.1176/appi.ajp.162.6.1211