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Altered representation of expected value in the orbitofrontal cortex in mania
Felix Bermpohl1, Thorsten Kahnt, Umut Dalanay
1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Mitte, Berlin, Germany. felix.bermpohl@charite.de
Human Brain Mapping
|December 2, 2009
Summary
Manic patients exhibit altered brain responses to potential gains and losses, specifically in the orbitofrontal cortex. These reward system differences may explain mania symptoms like increased reward seeking and risk underestimation.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Cognitive Neuroscience
Background:
- Mania in bipolar disorder is linked to reward system dysfunction.
- Altered responses to appetitive and aversive cues are observed in mania.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural correlates of gain and loss expectation in mania using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
Main Methods:
- Fifteen manic patients and 26 healthy controls completed a monetary incentive delay task.
- fMRI was used to analyze brain activity during anticipation of monetary gains and losses of varying magnitude and valence.
Main Results:
- Ventral striatum response to incentive magnitude was similar in both groups.
- Left lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) showed altered expected value representation in patients compared to controls.
- OFC responses in patients normalized after remission.
Conclusions:
- Altered affective processing bias in the OFC during reward and loss anticipation may contribute to manic symptoms.
- These findings suggest a state-dependent dysfunction in the brain reward system in mania.
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