The impact of limbic system morphology on facial emotion recognition in bipolar I disorder and healthy controls

Abstract

Introduction

Impairments in facial emotion recognition (FER) have been reported in bipolar disorder (BD) subjects during all mood states. This study aims to investigate the impact of limbic system morphology on FER scores in BD subjects and healthy controls.

Material and methods

Thirty-nine euthymic BD I (type I) subjects and 40 healthy controls were subjected to a battery of FER tests and examined with 3D structural imaging of the amygdala and hippocampus.

Results

The volume of these structures demonstrated a differential pattern of influence on FER scores in BD subjects and controls. In our control sample, larger left and right amygdala demonstrated to be associated to less recognition of sadness faces. In BD group, there was no impact of amygdala volume on FER but we observed a negative impact of the left hippocampus volume in the recognition of happiness while the right hippocampus volume positively impacted on the scores of happiness.

Conclusion

Our results indicate that amygdala and hippocampus volumes have distinct effects on FER in BD subjects compared to controls. Knowledge of the neurobiological basis of the illness may help to provide further insights on the role of treatments and psychosocial interventions for BD. Further studies should explore how these effects of amygdala and hippocampus volumes on FER are associated with social networks and social network functioning.

Keywords:

• bipolar disorder
• social cognition
• facial emotion recognition

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Institute of Psychiatry at the University of São Paulo, especially the members of the Mood Disorders Unit (GRUDA) and Laboratory of Neuroscience (LIM27) for their dedication and hard work, and all volunteers for their collaboration.

Disclosure

The São Paulo Research Foundation (Fundo de Apoio a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo – FAPESP) financed this research. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.