Connectomics in Psychiatric Classification of Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia

Connectomics in Psychiatric Classification

Washington University Early Recognition Center is conducting a research study to examine brain functional connectivity and network patterns in participants with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

This study extends the assessment of brain connectivity and function, being conducted in the Human Connectome Project (HCP), to psychiatrically ill populations. The HCP consortium has made significant improvements in MRI instrumentation, data acquisition, preprocessing, and analysis. These improvements are currently providing publicly available data on the structure, function, and connectivity of young adult human (age 22-35) brains at unprecedented spatial resolution, temporal resolution, and accuracy. This study will focus on individuals aged 18-40 years who have a diagnosis of either schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder or bipolar disorder, or are healthy controls. Additionally, similar to the HCP, the investigator will study the effect of genetics on the patterns of brain connectivity in various psychiatric populations. DNA will be collected non-invasively from saliva. Furthermore, this investigator will study cortisol levels in hair samples as an additional assessment to help characterize brain imagining findings.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Between ages 18-30

Exclusion Criteria:

• Head Injury
• Unstable Medical Condition