Brief report An MRI study of subgenual prefrontal cortex in patients with familial and non-familial bipolar I disorder Verinder Sharma a,b, * , Ravi Menon b,c , Thomas J. Carr b,c , Maria Densmore b , Dwight Mazmanian d , Peter C. Williamson b a Mood Disorders Program, Regional Mental Health Care London, 850 Highbury Avenue North, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 4H1 b Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada c Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada d Department of Psychology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada Received 27 March 2001; accepted 19 March 2002 Abstract Background: Over the past few years there has been an interest in the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study specific brain regions in bipolar disorder. The present study compared the grey matter volume in the subgenual prefrontal cortex in patients with familial and non-familial bipolar disorder and normal control subjects. Methods: MRI brain scans were performed on 12 patients with bipolar I disorder including six patients with a positive family history of bipolar disorder as well as eight control subjects. Results: There was a significant reduction in the grey matter volume in the right subgenual prefrontal cortex, but not in the left subgenual prefrontal cortex. A family history  sex interaction with right prefrontal cortex volume was also observed as a trend. For females, a positive family history was associated with reduced right prefrontal cortex volumes; for males, a positive family history was associated with increased right prefrontal cortex volumes. Limitations: Small sample size, reduced statistical power. Conclusion: These data add to the emerging literature on structural changes in the subgenual prefrontal cortex in bipolar disorder, especially in patients with a positive family history. D 2002 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Bipolar disorder; Family history; Magnetic resonance imaging; Subgenual prefrontal cortex 1. Introduction Over the past few years, there has been an interest in the use of quantitative magnetic resonance imag- ing (MRI) to study specific brain regions, (Altshuler et al., 2000; Hauser et al., 2000). Studies of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) are of particular interest because of its connections with cortical and subcor- tical circuits involved in the regulation of emotional behaviour and responses to stress (Damasio, 1994). Recently, an area of decreased blood flow and glucose metabolism was localized using a positron 0165-0327/$ - see front matter D 2002 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0165-0327(02)00109-X *Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-519-455-5110x47392; fax: +1- 519-455-3011. E-mail address: vsharma@uwo.ca (V. Sharma). www.elsevier.com/locate/jad Journal of Affective Disorders 77 (2003) 167 – 171