The Association Of Cognitive Impairments And Brain Structural Abnormalities In Bipolar Disorder Type 1

Objective: Bipolar disorder(BD)is a s major psychiatric disorder with high suicide and disability rates.In addition to recurrent depression and mania,there are different degrees of cognitive impairment that affect psychosocial function,but the mechanism is not clear.Therefore,this study used the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery(MCCB),combined with brain structural magnetic resonance imaging(s MRI)and diffusion tensor imaging(DTI)to investigate the brain structural changes associated with cognitive impairment of BD.Methods: The study included 119 subjects aged 18 to 55 years,including 53 bipolar disorder I patients(BD),and 66 healthy controls(HC)matched for age,sex,and academic years.First,all subjects voluntarily signed informed consent forms,collected demographic information,used MCCB to assess cognitive function,and underwent s MRI and DTI scan.The imaging data of gray matter volume and white matter integrity were obtained,and the indexes were gray matter volume(GMV)and fractional anisotropy(FA)respectively.In addition,the BD group was diagnosed through structured psychiatric clinical interviews,and the clinical symptoms were quantified using the Hamilton Depression Scale(HAMD)and the Young mania rating scale(YMRS).Secondly,in SPSS Software,demographic information,clinical data and MCCB data were analyzed statistically,and the MCCB subtest with statistical differences was used for subsequent correlation analysis.On the MATLAB platform,the image data are preprocessed and statistically analyzed with the SPM8,VBM8,PANDA and DPABI software package.The imaging differences between BD and HC were directly compared,with age and sex as covariates,and the abnormal brain regions were extracted.Finally,in SPSS Software,the partial correlation analysis between MCCB subtest scores and brain region extraction was done,with HAMD and YMRS scores as control variables.Results: 1.Compared with HC,the total MCCB score in BD group was significantly lower(p < 0.001),the scores of Trail Making Test A(p = 0.003),Symbol Coding(p = 0.002),Spatial Span(p = 0.001),Letter Number Span(p = 0.014),Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised(P = 0.013),Category Fluency(p = 0.010),Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test(p = 0.004)and Continuous Performance Test-Identical Pairs(p < 0.001)were significantly decreased.2.The FA values of BD decreased significantly in the body of corpus callosum(p < 0.001).3.The GMV values of BD decreased significantly in bilateral calcarine,right lingual gyrus,right fusiform gyrus,right middle occipital gyrus,right inferior occipital gyrus and right cerebellum(p < 0.001).4.The partial correlation analysis showed that there was a negative correlation between the scores of Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test and the FA values in corpus callosum(r =-0.396,P = 0.005).Conclusion: 1.BD has impairment in global cognition,speed of processing,working memory,visual learning ability,attention/vigilance,and social cognition.2.The white matter integrity dysfunction in BD were observed in corpus callosum.3.The gray matter volume of BD was decreased in bilateral calcarine,right lingual gyrus,right fusiform gyrus,right middle occipital gyrus,right inferior occipital gyrus and right cerebellum.4.The impairment of social cognitive function of BD is related to the alteration of white matter integrity in corpus callosum.