Sex dependence of brain size and shape in bipolar disorder: an exploratory study

Mackay CE, Roddick E, Barrick TR, Lloyd AJ, Roberts N, Crow TJ, Young AH, Ferrier IN. Sex dependence of brain size and shape in bipolar disorder: an exploratory study. Bipolar Disorder 2010: 12: 306–311. © 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

The article I chose is looking at the sex differences between male and female brains that have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Forty-nine euthymic patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder were derived from outpatient services. The researchers measured the volumes of the left, and right frontal , temporal . parietal, and occipital lobes and computed the magnitude of rightward frontal and leftward occipital asymmetry for 49 bipolar patients and 47 healthy control patients . The researchers used MRI instruments to analyze sections of the brain. For each patient left and right whole- cerebral hemisphere gray matter and cerebrospinal fluid volumes were analyzed. The results found patients with bipolar disorder had a significantly greater amount of CSF volume than the control patients, but there were no differences found in total brain volume. The researchers found that when analyses were performed separately for male and female participants, there were differences found in the volume of the left frontal , left temporal , right parietal , and right occipital lobes. The study found that male patients with bipolar disorder tend to have larger and more symmetric brains than the male control subjects and the female bipolar patients had smaller, more asymmetric brains than the female controls. I thought this article was interesting and looked into the brain of a bipolar patient which I have not learned that much about in my previous classes. The findings from this study found that bipolar disorder reflects an interaction between brain growth and sex along anterior posterior axis of the human brain. Further research into the brains of bipolar patients could help further treatment and better understanding of the disorder.

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