It is important to note that an observed deficit in mitochondrial complex I activity does not allow us to definitively infer whether neurons in a given brain region are more or less active. Deficits in mitochondrial function would presumably affect neuronal membrane stability and result in altered resting membrane potential, which could manifest as increased frequency of action potentials (at least initially). Potential mechanisms include the accumulation of intracellular sodium, lowering the ATP-dependent resting membrane potential, or exhaustion of vesicular contents impairing synaptic transmission. The need to restore homeostasis may explain the temporal relationship observed between hypomanic and depressive episodes. Moreover, given the complex web of inhibitory and excitatory pathways throughout the central nervous system, inhibition of a given neural network may result in paradoxical excitation of associated regions.
When investigating dysfunctional neural circuits implicated in bipolar disorder, neuroimaging researchers often categorically separate neural circuits into three domains: emotional regulation, cognition, and psychomotor changes.27 When considering emotional regulation and function, there are three interconnected circuits that have been identified as major contributors to mood lability in bipolar disorder. These are detailed in Fig. 5 below.
The first is the fronto-limbic circuit, which is primarily comprised of connections between the amygdala (Amy) and the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC), with the vlPFC assessing whether the amygdala has properly responded to a situation and then adjusting its output.28 In individuals with BD, the amygdala shows increased activity, resulting from either dysfunction in the vlPFC, the Amy, or both.29 In our imaging case study, both the vlPFC and Amy demonstrated significant decreases in mitochondrial function. It follows that such alterations may be related to symptoms involving emotional lability/impulsivity (e.g., pressured speech and irritability).
The second circuit depicted, the ventral affective circuit, is involved in identifying salient emotional stimuli and mediating resultant autonomic responses.30,31 It includes the orbital frontal cortex (OFC), the thalamus, and the ventral striatum. PET imaging of our participant exhibited significant mitochondrial dysfunction in both the thalamus and the frontal pole. Given the role of the OFC, these deficits point to a process that affects emotional reactions to both internal and external cues.32
The third, dorsal cognitive circuit, is comprised of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), the dorsomedial Prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), the dorsal caudate (dCaud), and the thalamus (Thal). This circuit, which is responsible for selective attention, planning, and explicit emotional regulation, is broadly hypoactive in patients with bipolar disorder independent of their current mood state.28,33 In our case study, mitochondrial deficits are observed in all four of these regions, possibly contributing to deficits in cognitive regulation of emotion.
Beyond emotional regulation and function, symptoms related to both cognitive and psychomotor changes are hallmarks of BD. Cognitive changes include deficits in executive function, memory, social cognition, and response timing. Psychomotor changes seen are state-dependent, with mania involving symptoms of hyperactivity, reckless action, impulsivity, and agitation, whereas depressive episodes involve decreased activity levels, volitional inhibition, physical and mental sluggishness, and, in more extreme episodes, akinesia. These symptoms have been associated with four networks: the default mode network (DMN), the central executive network (CEN), the salience network (SN), and the sensorimotor network (SMN) – the first three networks are predominant contributors to cognition, with the SMN primarily being responsible for psychomotor symptoms.34–38
Coordination and switching among these four networks is considered to be an underlying framework for cognition.39,40 The DMN, comprised of medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), the hippocampus, the lateral temporal cortex, the precuneal cortex, and the posterior cingulate cortex, is widely referred to as the “task-negative network” given that it exhibits activation at baseline and deactivation during engagement with a task. This is in contrast to the CEN, which is viewed as an antagonistic circuit to the DMN given that it is primarily active during activities.41 The CEN comprises the dlPFC, the dorsal ACC, the posterior parietal context, and the inferior temporal gyrus and exhibits increased activity during attention-demanding and working memory tasks that require top-down modulation.42 At the center of these two networks is the SN, which plays a central role in switching between the DMN and CEN and comprises the insular cortex, the dorsal ACC, the amygdala, and the temporal lobe.35 Dysfunctions in these networks have been shown to be correlated with the cognitive deficits observed in BD.43–45 Notably, in this case study, 18F-BCPP-EF PET imaging revealed evidence of mitochondrial dysfunction within the precuneus cortex, which is a key part of the DMN. Additionally, the amygdala, which is a part of the SN, exhibited mitochondrial dysfunction. These mitochondrial deficits could theoretically be contributing to the participant’s alternating verbal fluency score of 9/20.
As with cognition, psychomotor behavioral features manifesting in BD are thought to be caused by alterations in networks, specifically the DMN and the SMN.37,46,47 One study found that individuals with BD had reduced resting state cohesiveness of the SMN48 and another found reduced functional within-connectivity in both the right and left primary somatosensory areas (clusters in the somatosensory network) in individuals with BD.49 The ratio between DMN activity and SMN activity as measured by blood flow has also been an area of investigation, with studies having shown that the DMN/SMN activity ratio was significantly increased in depression and significantly decreased in mania, with computed ratios in both cases correlating with the degree of depressive or manic symptoms, respectively.36,50 For our participant in the case study, there were mitochondrial deficits observed in key regions in the DMN as detailed in the prior paragraph. However, calculating a DMN/SMN activity ratio to derive potential correlations with symptom severity would require a different imaging modality, which falls outside the scope of this case study.
While this case study establishes the first utilization of the 18F-BCPP-EF PET ligand in the setting of bipolar disorder, several key limitations must be noted. Namely, in addition to the limited statistical power inherent to a case study, no sex-matched controls were available for comparison. While matching for age is vital when assessing mitochondrial function, matching for biological sex may prove to be particularly important as well as more data emerges. Third, binge drinking behavior was comorbid with bipolar disorder in this case study, making it difficult to discern to what extent observed mitochondrial deficits may be associated with underlying bipolar disorder pathophysiology vs. consumption of alcohol (a known mitochondrial toxin). Finally, given the participant’s mental status at the time of examination and preference to quickly return to work following the standard assessment, collecting a more comprehensive psychiatric history was not feasible.
Even with these limitations in mind, this case study provides exciting preliminary results due to the mounting evidence implicating mitochondria in the pathogenesis of bipolar disorder. This has been established utilizing several techniques, including assessments pertaining to mtDNA copy number, SNPs, ETC complex activity in peripheral cells, postmortem analyses of ETC function, and iPSC-derived biomarkers, among others. Despite this compelling evidence, at the time of this publication no studies have utilized PET imaging to assess mitochondrial function in the setting of BD. This renders the 18F-BCPP-EF mitochondrial complex I PET ligand an exciting new tool to further characterize the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in BD. This case study opens the door for future lines of research to build on these preliminary results. Our imaging findings demonstrated significant overlap between areas of dysfunction identified with the 18F-BCPP-EF PET ligand and areas of dysfunction previously identified in the setting of BD with fMRI techniques. That overlap was seen in both affective and cognitive circuits, with mitochondrial dysfunction in the fronto-limbic, ventral affective, and dorsal cognitive circuits showing particularly significant differences. This was true even when comparing imaging with the much older healthy control, whom one would expect to have a greater degree of impairment as a function of aging. The compelling overlap between prior imaging outcomes and our findings in this case study warrant further investigation via an expanded study featuring an increased number of participants and measures aimed at controlling for confounding variables. Expanded research in this domain has the potential to better characterize the role of mitochondrial function in the pathogenesis of BD, with the ultimate goal of identifying clinically useful biomarkers and improved therapeutic targets to benefit patients suffering from BD.