Frontosubcortical neuroanatomy and the continuous performance test in mania

Objective: The authors examined whether Continuous Performance Test scores correlate with frontosubcortical volumes in bipolar disorder. Method: The s ubjects were 17 patients hospitalized for an acute manic episode and 12 gro up-matched comparison subjects. They underwent magnetic resonance imaging a nd completed the Continuous Performance Test, Results: The patients perform ed worse on the Continuous Performance Test and had smaller prefrontal cort ical volumes than the comparison subjects. Within the patient group, Contin uous Performance Test performance significantly correlated with prefrontal and hippocampal volumes. Conclusions: These results suggest that certain ne uroanatomic structures may be associated with attentional dysfunction in ma nia.