Figure 1.

In the top picture is the diffusion tensor imaging tractography output for a healthy control. In the bottom picture is a representative tractography output from a bipolar disorder patient. All patients were on lithium monotherapy or combined therapy consisting of lithium, atypical neuroleptics and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. The bipolar disorder sample consisted of 8 males and 8 females with a mean age of 41 years. Note the much greater density and thickness of the red colored fibers in the bipolar disorder subjects in the bottom picture. The red tortuous pathway consists of reconstructed fibers connecting the left subgenual cingulate which is depicted in green and the left amygdalo-hippocampal complex depicted in purple. The blue lines represent reconstructed fibers connecting the left amygdalo-hippocampal complex to the rest of the brain. Copyright © 2007, Nature Publishing Group. Reproduced with permission from Houenou J, Wessa M, Douaud G, et al. 2007. Increased white matter connectivity in euthymic bipolar patients: Diffusion tensor tractography between the subgenual cingulate and the amygdalo-hippocampal complex. Mol Psychiatry, 12:1001–10.