Differential patterns of default mode network activity associated with negative and positive rumination in bipolar...

Patients with bipolar disorder (BD) engage in both negative and positive rumination, defined as maladaptive self-focused thinking, and this tendency predicts depressive and manic episodes, respectively. Prior research in patients with major depression implicates regions of the default mode network (DMN) consistent with the self-focused nature of rumination. Little is known about the neural correlates of rumination in bipolar disorder.

Fifteen euthymic patients with BD (twelve with Type I) and 17 healthy controls (HC) performed negative and positive rumination induction tasks, as well as a distraction task, followed by a self-related trait judgment task while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants also underwent resting state scans. We examined functional connectivity at rest and during the induction tasks, as well as task-based activation during the trait judgment task, in core regions of the DMN.

Compared to HC, patients with BD showed greater functional connectivity between the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) at rest and during positive rumination, compared to distraction. They also showed greater activity in the PCC and MPFC during processing of positive traits, following positive rumination. At rest and during negative rumination compared to distraction, patients with BD showed greater functional connectivity between the PCC and inferior parietal lobule than HC.

These findings demonstrate that negative and positive rumination are subserved by different patterns of connectivity within the DMN in BD. Additionally, the PCC and MPFC are key regions involved in the processing of positive self-relevant traits following positive rumination.