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MRI-derived brain measures offer a link between genes, the environment and behavior and have been widely studied in bipolar disorder (BD). However, many neuroimaging studies of BD have been underpowered, leading to varied results and uncertainty regarding effects. The Enhancing Neuro Imaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) Bipolar Disorder Working Group was formed in 2012 to empower discoveries, generate consensus findings and inform future hypothesis-driven studies of BD. Through this effort, over 150 researchers from 20 countries and 55 institutions pool data and resources to produce the largest neuroimaging studies of BD ever conducted. The ENIGMA Bipolar Disorder Working Group applies standardized processing and analysis techniques to empower large-scale meta- and mega-analyses of multimodal brain MRI and improve the replicability of studies relating brain variation to clinical and genetic data. Initial BD Working Group studies reveal widespread patterns of lower cortical thickness, subcortical volume and disrupted white matter integrity associated with BD. Findings also include mapping brain alterations of common medications like lithium, symptom patterns and clinical risk profiles and have provided further insights into the pathophysiological mechanisms of BD. Here we discuss key findings from the BD working group, its ongoing projects and future directions for large-scale, collaborative studies of mental illness., (© 2020 The Authors. Human Brain Mapping published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Objective: The parent-adolescent relationship is an important predictor of adolescent mental health, especially depressive disorders. This relationship is constructed in the context of maturing emotion neurobiology and could help shape such neurobiology in ways that are important for current and future mental health. Amygdala resting-state functional networks have been linked to depression, but whether such resting connectivity is associated with parent affective behaviors or acts as a salient mediator between parenting and risk for depressive disorder is unknown., Method: In the present study of 128 individuals, a 7-year longitudinal design was used to examine how observed maternal aggressive behavior during mother-adolescent interactions in early adolescence (12 years) predicted amygdala (whole and subregion)-based resting connectivity in mid adolescence (16 years). In 101 of those participants, whether altered amygdala resting-state connectivity mediated the association between maternal aggressive behavior and the first onset of major depressive disorder (MDD) in late adolescence (19 years) was analyzed., Results: Maternal aggression was related to resting-state functional connectivity between the amygdala and right superior temporal-posterior insula-Heschl gyri, bilateral visual cortex, and left temporal and insula cortices (the latter being driven by the centromedial amygdala subregion; p < .001). Further, amygdala and centromedial amygdala connectivity with the temporal and insula cortices mediated the association between maternal aggression and late adolescent-onset MDD (CI 0.20 to 2.87; CI 0.13 to 2.40, respectively)., Conclusion: These findings are consistent with previous literature documenting the importance of amygdala resting networks for adolescent depression but further suggest the importance of parental affective (particularly aggressive) behavior in the development of such functional connectivity patterns during this period of peak onset for mental health disorders., (Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Recent functional imaging work in individuals experiencing an at-risk mental state (ARMS) for psychosis has implicated dorsal striatal abnormalities in the emergence of psychotic symptoms, contrasting with earlier findings implicating the ventral striatum. Our aims here were to characterize putative dorsal and ventral striatal circuit-level abnormalities in ARMS individuals using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and to investigate their relationship to positive psychotic symptoms. Resting-state fMRI was acquired in 74 ARMS subjects and 35 matched healthy controls. An established method for mapping ventral and dorsal striatal functional connectivity was used to examine corticostriatal functional integrity. Positive psychotic symptoms were assessed using the Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental State and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. Compared with healthy controls, ARMS subjects showed reductions in functional connectivity between the dorsal caudate and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, left rostral medial prefrontal cortex, and thalamus, and between the dorsal putamen and left thalamic and lenticular nuclei. ARMS subjects also showed increased functional connectivity between the ventral putamen and the insula, frontal operculum, and superior temporal gyrus bilaterally. No differences in ventral striatal (ie, nucleus accumbens) functional connectivity were found. Altered functional connectivity in corticostriatal circuits were significantly correlated with positive psychotic symptoms. Together, these results suggest that risk for psychosis is mediated by a complex interplay of alterations in both dorsal and ventral corticostriatal systems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Brain cortico-striatal circuits have consistently been implicated in the pathology of addiction related disorders. We applied a reliable seed-based analysis of the resting-state brain activity to comprehensively delineate the subdivisions of striatal functional connectivity implicated in internet gaming disorder. Among twelve right-handed male adolescents with internet gaming disorder and 11 right-handed and gender-matched healthy controls, we examined group differences in the functional connectivity of dorsal and ventral subdivisions of the caudate nucleus and putamen, as well as the association of these connectivity indices with behavioral measures of internet use. Adolescents with internet gaming disorder showed significantly reduced dorsal putamen functional connectivity with the posterior insula-parietal operculum. More time spent playing online games predicted significantly greater functional connectivity between the dorsal putamen and bilateral primary somatosensory cortices in adolescents with internet gaming disorder, and significantly lower functional connectivity between the dorsal putamen and bilateral sensorimotor cortices in healthy controls. The dorsal putamen functional connectivity was significantly and specifically different in adolescents with internet gaming disorder. The findings suggest a possible biomarker of internet gaming disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]