Abstract:
Cerebral metabolic rates for glucose were examined in patients
with unipolar depression (N 3D 11), bipolar depression (N 3D 5), mania
(N 3D 5), bipolar mixed states (N 3D 3), and in normal controls (N 3D
9) using positron emission tomography and fluorodeoxyglucose F 18. All
subjects were studied supine under ambient room conditions with eyes
open. Bipolar depressed and mixed patients had supratentorial whole
brain glucose metabolic rates that were significantly lower than those
of the other comparison groups. The whole brain metabolic rates for
patients with bipolar depression increased going from depression or a
mixed state to a euthymic or manic state. Patients with unipolar
depression showed a significantly lower ratio of the metabolic rate of
the caudate nucleus, divided by that of the hemisphere as a whole, when
compared with normal controls and patients with bipolar depression