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Brain imaging in catatonia: systematic review and directions for future research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2020

Alexandre Haroche Open the ORCID record for Alexandre Haroche [Opens in a new window] ,
Jonathan Rogers ,
Marion Plaze ,
Raphaël Gaillard ,
Steve CR Williams ,
Pierre Thomas  and
Ali Amad
Alexandre Haroche*
Affiliation:
GHU PARIS Psychiatrie & Neurosciences, site Sainte-Anne, Service Hospitalo-Universitaire, Pôle Hospitalo-Universitaire Paris 15, Paris, France
Jonathan Rogers
Affiliation:
Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
Marion Plaze
Affiliation:
GHU PARIS Psychiatrie & Neurosciences, site Sainte-Anne, Service Hospitalo-Universitaire, Pôle Hospitalo-Universitaire Paris 15, Paris, France
Raphaël Gaillard
Affiliation:
GHU PARIS Psychiatrie & Neurosciences, site Sainte-Anne, Service Hospitalo-Universitaire, Pôle Hospitalo-Universitaire Paris 15, Paris, France
Steve CR Williams
Affiliation:
Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
Pierre Thomas
Affiliation:
Univ. Lille, Inserm, CHU Lille, U1172 - LilNCog - Lille Neuroscience & Cognition, F-59000, Lille, France
Ali Amad
Affiliation:
Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK Univ. Lille, Inserm, CHU Lille, U1172 - LilNCog - Lille Neuroscience & Cognition, F-59000, Lille, France
*
Author for correspondence: Alexandre Haroche, E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Background

Catatonia is a frequent, complex and severe identifiable syndrome of motor dysregulation. However, its pathophysiology is poorly understood.

Methods

We aimed to provide a systematic review of all brain imaging studies (both structural and functional) in catatonia.

Results

We identified 137 case reports and 18 group studies representing 186 individual patients with catatonia. Catatonia is often associated with brain imaging abnormalities (in more than 75% of cases). The majority of the case reports show diffuse lesions of white matter, in a wide range of brain regions. Most of the case reports of functional imaging usually show frontal, temporal, or basal ganglia hypoperfusion. These abnormalities appear to be alleviated after successful treatment of clinical symptoms. Structural brain magnetic resonance imaging studies are very scarce in the catatonia literature, mostly showing diffuse cerebral atrophy. Group studies assessing functional brain imaging after catatonic episodes show that emotional dysregulation is related to the GABAergic system, with hypoactivation of orbitofrontal cortex, hyperactivation of median prefrontal cortex, and dysconnectivity between frontal and motor areas.

Conclusion

In catatonia, brain imaging is abnormal in the majority of cases, and abnormalities more frequently diffuse than localised. Brain imaging studies published so far suffer from serious limitations and for now the different models presented in the literature do not explain most of the cases. There is an important need for further studies including a better clinical characterisation of patients with catatonia, functional imaging with concurrent catatonic symptoms and the use of novel brain imaging techniques.

Keywords

Bipolar disorderbrain imagingcatatonia
Type
Review Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 50 , Issue 10 , July 2020 , pp. 1585 - 1597
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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