Psychiatry Research EG

Introduction The caudate nucleus (CN) is a crucial component of the ventral striatum and part of the striatal– thalamic circuits that is modulated by limbic structure to subserve emotional processing. MRI studies examining the CN have yielded equivocal, mixed results. We aimed to examine the Materials and methods (i) The CN was manually traced on MRI scans from 49 schizophrenic patients, 21 bipolar patients, and 20 patients with depressive psychosis as well as 23 healthy control individuals both at baseline and after 2 years. (ii) Structured SCID interviews of DSM-IV, HDRS, YMRS as well as PANSS were conducted. (iii) WMS-III and WAIS were used to test cognitive function Results a magnitude of around 18.5%. (ii) Schizophrenic and depressive patients showed a modest volume reduction in CN (8.5 and 12.5%, respectively). (iii) Only bipolar patients showed cognitive dysfunction associated with a 1% progressive reduction in CN size after 2 years of follow-up. Clinical importance was unclear for depressive and schizophrenia patients. Conclusion and recommendation the illness, but it is unclear whether it is primary or secondary to other structural changes. Study of the shape, functional changes in CN as well as areas connected to it may uncover the primary mechanisms of bipolar psychosis. Keywords: bipolar disorder, caudate volume, cognition, MRI, psychotic depression, schizophrenia