Age-related changes in the corpus callosum in early-onset bipolar disorder assessed using volumetric and cross-sectional measurements

Melissa Lopez-Larson, Harvard Medical School
Janis L. Breeze, McLean Hospital
David N. Kennedy, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Steven M. Hodge, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Lena Tang, Massachusetts General Hospital
Constance M. Moore, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Anthony J. Giuliano, Harvard Medical School
Nikos Makris, Massachusetts General Hospital
Verne S. Caviness Jr., Massachusetts General Hospital
Jean A. Frazier, University of Massachusetts Medical School

Abstract

Corpus callosum (CC) area abnormalities have been reported in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of adults and youths with bipolar disorder (BPD), suggesting interhemispheric communication may be abnormal in BPD and may be present early in the course of illness and affect normal neuromaturation of this structure throughout the lifecycle. Neuroimaging scans from 44 youths with DSM-IV BPD and 22 healthy controls (HC) were analyzed using cross-sectional area measurements and a novel method of volumetric parcellation. Univariate analyses of variance were conducted on CC subregions using both volume and traditional area measurements. Youths with BPD had smaller middle and posterior callosal regions, and reduced typical age-related increases in CC size. The cross-sectional area and novel volumetric methodologies resulted in similar findings. Future longitudinal assessments of CC development would track the evolution of callosal abnormalities in youths with BPD and allow exploration of the functional significance of these findings.