CLINICAL UNIT BASED RESEARCH
Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Program
As director of McLean's Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Program, Dr. Dost Öngür also heads a research aspect of the program with offices located directly above the inpatient unit on the third floor of the Admissions Building. We are interested in chemical, functional, and structural brain abnormalities in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Our main focus is using neuroimaging techniques to probe the role of the medial prefrontal cortex in these conditions. In collaboration with Dr. Perry Renshaw, we use magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to measure the levels of two major neurotransmitters in the brain, glutamate and GABA (Figure 1).
|
|
|
|
We also carry out resting state functional MRI studies to examine abnormalities in neural networks subserving ongoing brain function. Figure 2 shows a set of brain areas that are active at rest and share a similar timecourse of activity. The top row represents the average "resting state network" from a group of 15 healthy controls, the middle row 14 schizophrenia patients, and the bottom row 17 bipolar disorder patients. It is clear that there are broad similarities in the brain areas in this network across conditions, but there are also subtle differences, which we are currently investigating.
Figure 3 shows significant differences in default mode network spatial extent between normal control and bipolar disorder subjects in whole brain analysis mapped onto parasagittal, coronal, and axial slices from a single subjects' structural image in Talairach space; A) Normal control > Bipolar disorder; B) Bipolar disorder > Normal control. In each panel, average z-scores from a highlighted cluster are shown for normal control (gray) and bipolar disorder (black) groups. p=0.001, uncorrected; spatial extent > 25 voxels.
Figure 4 shows metabolite signal decay due to T2 relaxation. The panel on the right shows the first fast Fourier transformed echo of a control subject dataset from the ACC. To the left are sets of 48 spectral fragments around the metabolite peak of interest (tNAA, tCr, or tCho) as indicated by the horizontal lines. There are 3 sets each from one control and one BD subject, and they span the 30 - 500 ms range (left to right) in 10 ms increments. Each series is presented with spectral amplitude normalized to the first spectrum for presentation purposes. The difference in signal decay due to T2 relaxation is evident: fastest in tCr, followed by tCho, and finally by tNAA.
If you are interested in participating in one of our research studies, please call (617) 855-2370. Our two current studies are looking at brain function in schizophrenia using brain imaging and a genetic linkage study in Bipolar Disorder. Assisting Dr. Öngür with the research is Dr. Eve Lewandowski, research fellow working on the cognitive genotype-phenotype study. Julie McCarthy, Sarah Young, and Danielle Pfaff are the research assistants and Beverly Pierce, (617) 855-2255, is the Administrative Assistant for the group.
Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Program Staff |
Personnel
- Öngür, Dost , MD, PhD Clinical Director, Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Program
- Lewandowski, Kathryn, PhD Postdoc Research Fellow
- Shinn, Ann Kyungah, M.D., MPH Assistant Psychiatrist
- Brady, Roscoe O., MD, PhD Chief Resident
- Danielle Pfaff, Research Coordinator
- Julie McCarthy Research Assistant
- Sarah Young Research Assistant
Recent Publications
- Lewandowski K.E., DePaola J., Camsari G.B., Cohen B.M., Ongür D. (2009). Tactile, olfactory, and gustatory hallucinations in psychotic disorders: A descriptive study. Ann Acad Med Singapore, 38(5), 383-5.
- Ongür D., Jensen J.E., Prescot A.P., Stork C., Lundy M., Cohen B.M., Renshaw P.F. (2008). Abnormal glutamatergic neurotransmission and neuronal-glial interactions in acute mania. Biol Psychiatry, 64(8), 718-26.
- Ongür D., Lin L., Cohen B.M. (2009). Clinical characteristics influencing age at onset in psychotic disorders. Compr Psychiatry, 50(1),13-9.
- Ongür D., Prescot A.P., Jensen J.E., Cohen B.M., Renshaw P.F. (2009). Creatine abnormalities in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Psychiatry Res, 172(1),44-8.
- Öngür D., Prescot A.P., Jensen J.E., Rouse E.D., Cohen B.M., Renshaw P.F., Olson D.P. (2009) T2 relaxation time abnormalities in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Magn Reson Med (In Press)
Current Studies
- MRI studies of Brain Chemistry and Function in Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia
- Genetic Association Studies in Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia
- Cognitive Functioning in Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia
- MRI studies of auditory hallucinations