Brain age in bipolar disorders: Effects of lithium treatment.

CONCLUSIONS: Bipolar disorders were associated with greater, whereas Li treatment with lower discrepancy between brain and chronological age. These findings support the neuroprotective effects of Li, which were sufficiently pronounced to affect a complex, multivariate measure of brain structure. The association between Li treatment and BrainAGE was independent of long-term thymoprophylactic response and thus may generalize beyond bipolar disorders, to neurodegenerative disorders.
PMID: 31244332 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry - June 26, 2019 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Van Gestel H, Franke K, Petite J, Slaney C, Garnham J, Helmick C, Johnson K, Uher R, Alda M, Hajek T Tags: Aust N Z J Psychiatry Source Type: research