OBJECTIVES.
It has been illustrated in numerous studies that children with Bipolar Disorder (BD) consistently show deficits in declarative memory. There are a number of regions within the brain that have been inferred to correspond to these deficits. Currently, there are a limited number of studies that have analyzed the direct relationship between neuropsychological tests and anatomical brain regions. The purpose of this study was to establish a relationship between structural neuroanatomical measurements and cognitive tasks measurements in Pediatric Bipolar Patients.
METHODS.
We administered the California Verbal Learning Test-II (CVLT-II) to 46 children and adolescents with BD and compared their scores 35 age-matched healthy controls. A MANCOVA between PBD and Healthy was performed and Long-Delay Free Recall (LDFR) and Long-Delay Cued Recall (LDQR) were significantly different. A multiple linear regression between LDFR and LDQC cognitive variables and anatomical volume and cortical thickness was performed in SPM and FreeSurfer libraries.
RESULTS.
There was overall significance in CVLT-II Trial 1 (p=0.042), Long Delay Free Recall (LDFR) (p=0.047), and Long Delay Cued Recall (LDQC) scores (0.038), amongst the diagnostic groups (BD-I, BD-II, BD-NOS, Other, Healthy). Within Bipolar subjects, LDFR scores were positive correlated to the gray matter volume of the cingulate gyrus, Brodmann's area 6, parrahippocampal gyrus and the thickness of the lateralorbitofrontal region. LDQC scores were positive correlated to the gray matter volume of the cingulate gyrus, Brodmann's area 7 and middle temporal gyrus. LDQC was also correlated to the volume of the superior frontal, pars triangularis, insula and the thickness of the rostral middle frontal region.
CONCLUSION.
These results reaffirm previous reports of the cognitive deficits present in children with bipolar disorder. This study also revealed a positive correlation between gray matter density of structures within the limbic system and performance on cognitive variables of the California Verbal Learning Test-II Children's version.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/14666 |
| Date | 22 January 2016 |
| Creators | Asonye, Uzoamaka S. |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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