Neurostructural differences associated with self-harm in youth bipolar disorder.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• Youth with bipolar disorder (BD) face a high risk of suicide.
• Self-harm is a significant risk factor for suicide death in this population.
• Limited research exists on the neurostructural underpinnings of self-harm in youth with BD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the neurostructural differences associated with self-harm in adolescents with bipolar disorder.
• To identify specific brain regions and measures (cortical thickness, surface area, volume) related to self-harm behavior.

Main Methods:

• 156 adolescents (38 BD with self-harm, 43 BD without self-harm, 75 healthy controls) participated.
• 3T magnetic resonance imaging was used to obtain neurostructural measures.
• Region-of-interest and vertex-wise analyses examined orbitofrontal and ventrolateral prefrontal cortices.

Main Results:

• No significant differences were found in region-of-interest analyses after multiple comparisons correction.
• Vertex-wise analysis revealed significant differences in precentral gyrus surface area, inferior temporal gyrus surface area, and caudal middle frontal gyrus volume.
• Adolescents with BD and a history of self-harm (BD_SH+) exhibited reduced cortical surface area and volume in these areas compared to both BD without self-harm (BD_SH-) and healthy controls (HC).

Conclusions:

• Neurostructural differences in frontotemporal regions are associated with self-harm in youth with BD.
• Smaller neurostructural measures in specific brain areas were observed in the BD_SH+ group.
• Further research is needed to understand the temporal relationship and underlying mechanisms of these neurostructural findings in relation to self-harm.