Bipolar disorder (BPD) in a major source of morbidity and mortality for adults in America, with more than $24 billion spent annually; however, far less is known about BPD in children and adolescents. Emerging data shows that BPD children are impaired in reversal learning. This process requires behavioral adaptation to changing stimulus-reward contingencies and engages the ventral prefrontal cortex (vPFC), ventral striatum, and amygdala. My long-term goal is to understand how brain/behavior interactions, central to emotion regulation, differentiate normal from psychiatrically ill children, in order to develop more effective diagnostic and treatment strategies. The study of reversal learning will facilitate my efforts in this respect. ? ? The objectives of this application are to (1) acquire training in fMRI methods and experimental design, (2) identify neurological correlates of impaired reversal learning in pediatric BPD, and (3) develop an R01 application based on this work. My central hypothesis is that BPD children have specific impairments in reversal learning due to dysfunction in a neural circuit encompassing the vPFC, ventral striatum, and amygdala. To test this hypothesis, I will: (1) use fMRI to identify substrates of reversal learning in normal children; (2) determine functional neuroanatomical and behavioral differences in BPD children during reversal learning; (3) evaluate the specificity of reversal learning deficits in psychiatric controls. I will use the """"""""response reversal"""""""" task developed by our group to evaluate reversal learning with 3 Tesla fMRI and behavioral data. This will be among the first studies to link behavioral dysfunction to brain abnormalities in children with strictly defined BPD. From these studies, I expect to determine that BPD children have selective alterations in fronto-temporal structures during reversal learning. ? ? The proposed work will positively impact child mental health advancing our knowledge of the underlying brain/behavior abnormalities mediating BPD in children and adolescents. In turn, greater pathophysiological understanding of pediatric BPD will move the field of pediatric BPD beyond symptom-based diagnosis, potentially allowing more accurate or earlier diagnosis, thus reducing the morbidity and mortality in children and adolescents suffering from this debilitating disorder. ? ? ? ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Career Transition Award (K22)
Project #
5K22MH074945-02
Application #
7496554
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZMH1-ERB-P (01))
Program Officer
Sesma, Michael A
Project Start
2007-09-14
Project End
2010-06-30
Budget Start
2008-07-01
Budget End
2010-06-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2008
Total Cost
$151,200
Indirect Cost
Name
Emma Pendleton Bradley Hospital
Department
Type
DUNS #
075706176
City
East Providence
State
RI
Country
United States
Zip Code
02915
Cabeen, Ryan P; Laidlaw, David H; Ruggieri, Amanda et al. (2018) Preliminary mapping of the structural effects of age in pediatric bipolar disorder with multimodal MR imaging. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging 273:54-62
MacPherson, Heather A; Ruggieri, Amanda L; Christensen, Rachel E et al. (2018) Developmental evaluation of family functioning deficits in youths and young adults with childhood-onset bipolar disorder. J Affect Disord 235:574-582
Wegbreit, Ezra; Cushman, Grace K; Weissman, Alexandra B et al. (2016) Reversal-learning deficits in childhood-onset bipolar disorder across the transition from childhood to young adulthood. J Affect Disord 203:46-54
Seymour, Karen E; Kim, Kerri L; Cushman, Grace K et al. (2015) Affective processing bias in youth with primary bipolar disorder or primary attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 24:1349-59
Wegbreit, Ezra; Weissman, Alexandra B; Cushman, Grace K et al. (2015) Facial emotion recognition in childhood-onset bipolar I disorder: an evaluation of developmental differences between youths and adults. Bipolar Disord 17:471-85
Dickstein, Daniel P; Pescosolido, Matthew F; Reidy, Brooke L et al. (2013) Developmental meta-analysis of the functional neural correlates of autism spectrum disorders. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 52:279-289.e16
Young, Matthew E; Galvan, Thania; Reidy, Brooke L et al. (2013) Family functioning deficits in bipolar disorder and ADHD in youth. J Affect Disord 150:1096-102
Seymour, Karen E; Pescosolido, Matthew F; Reidy, Brooke L et al. (2013) Emotional face identification in youths with primary bipolar disorder or primary attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 52:537-546.e3
Goldstein, Benjamin I; Strober, Michael; Axelson, David et al. (2013) Predictors of first-onset substance use disorders during the prospective course of bipolar spectrum disorders in adolescents. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 52:1026-37
Selvaraj, Sudhakar; Arnone, Danilo; Job, Dominic et al. (2012) Grey matter differences in bipolar disorder: a meta-analysis of voxel-based morphometry studies. Bipolar Disord 14:135-45

Showing the most recent 10 out of 20 publications