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European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience

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01-03-2013 | Original Paper

Discriminating unipolar and bipolar depression by means of fMRI and pattern classification: a pilot study

Authors: Dominik Grotegerd, Thomas Suslow, Jochen Bauer, Patricia Ohrmann, Volker Arolt, Anja Stuhrmann, Walter Heindel, Harald Kugel, Udo Dannlowski

Published in: European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience | Issue 2/2013

Abstract

Bipolar disorders rank among the most debilitating psychiatric diseases. Bipolar depression is often misdiagnosed as unipolar depression, leading to suboptimal therapy and poor outcomes. Discriminating unipolar and bipolar depression at earlier stages of illness could therefore help to facilitate efficient and specific treatment. In the present study, the neurobiological underpinnings of emotion processing were investigated in a sample of unipolar and bipolar depressed patients matched for age, gender, and depression severity by means of fMRI. A pattern-classification approach was employed to discriminate the two samples. The pattern classification yielded up to 90 % accuracy rates discriminating the two groups. According to the feature weights of the multivariate maps, medial prefrontal and orbitofrontal regions contributed to classifications specific to unipolar depression, whereas stronger feature weights in dorsolateral prefrontal areas contribute to classifications as bipolar. Strong feature weights were observed in the amygdala for the negative faces condition, which were specific to unipolar depression, whereas higher amygdala features weights during the positive faces condition were observed, specific to bipolar subjects. Standard univariate fMRI analysis supports an interpretation, where this might be related to a higher responsiveness, by yielding a significant emotion × group interaction within the bilateral amygdala. We conclude that pattern-classification techniques could be a promising tool to classify acutely depressed subjects as unipolar or bipolar. However, since the present approach deals with small sample sizes, it should be considered as a proof-of-concept study. Hence, results have to be confirmed in larger samples preferably of unmedicated subjects.

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Title: Discriminating unipolar and bipolar depression by means of fMRI and pattern classification: a pilot study
Authors: Dominik Grotegerd
Thomas Suslow
Jochen Bauer
Patricia Ohrmann
Volker Arolt
Anja Stuhrmann
Walter Heindel
Harald Kugel
Udo Dannlowski
Publication date: 01-03-2013
Publisher: Springer-Verlag
Published in: European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience / Issue 2/2013
Print ISSN: 0940-1334
Electronic ISSN: 1433-8491
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-012-0329-4

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Discriminating unipolar and bipolar depression by means of fMRI and pattern classification: a pilot study

Abstract

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

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Abstract

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