Similarities and differences of white matter connectivity and water diffusivity in bipolar I and II disorder

Differences and similarities in microstructural white matter alterations between bipolar I and bipolar II disorder were investigated. Twelve patients with bipolar I disorder, 12 patients with bipolar II disorder and 22 healthy controls underwent diffusion tensor imaging. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps were compared between groups using voxel-based whole brain analyses. Both bipolar I and II groups had a FA decrease in the corpus callosum, cingulate and right prefrontal regions, and a ADC increase in the medial frontal, anterior cingulate, insular and temporal regions, compared to controls. The bipolar I group had a FA decrease in the right temporal white matter and a ADC increase in the frontal, temporal, parietal and thalamic regions, compared to the bipolar II group. The results suggest disrupted integrity of commissural fibers and white matter in the anterior paralimbic structures in bipolar disorder. Relative sparing of the dorsal system and long association fibers may differentiate bipolar II from I disorder.