An MRI study of the caudate nucleus in euthymic bipolar I disorder

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a common, complex psychiatric illness characterised by extremes of mood and disordered thinking. Evidence from structural MRI implicates subtle grey matter abnormalities in BD in brain regions involved in affective regulation and executive function. However such studies are often underpowered with highly heterogeneous patient populations [1]. An important yet often neglected structure is the caudate nucleus which forms a subcortical component of and modulator within anterior limbic networks[2]. To our knowledge this study represents the largest case-control population (n=118) investigation of caudate nucleus volume in euthymic bipolar I disorder.