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Neurocognitive correlates of working memory and emotional processing in postpartum psychosis: an fMRI study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 March 2020

Olivia S. Kowalczyk Open the ORCID record for Olivia S. Kowalczyk [Opens in a new window] ,
Astrid M. Pauls ,
Montserrat Fusté ,
Steven C.R. Williams ,
Katie Hazelgrove ,
Costanza Vecchio ,
Gertrude Seneviratne ,
Carmine M. Pariante ,
Paola Dazzan  and
Mitul A. Mehta
Olivia S. Kowalczyk
Affiliation:
Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
Astrid M. Pauls
Affiliation:
Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
Montserrat Fusté
Affiliation:
Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK CIBERSAM, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, Madrid, Spain
Steven C.R. Williams
Affiliation:
Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Mental Health Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London, London, UK
Katie Hazelgrove
Affiliation:
Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK Section of Stress, Psychiatry and Immunology and Perinatal Psychiatry, Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neurosciences, King's College London, London, UK
Costanza Vecchio
Affiliation:
Section of Stress, Psychiatry and Immunology and Perinatal Psychiatry, Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neurosciences, King's College London, London, UK
Gertrude Seneviratne
Affiliation:
Section of Stress, Psychiatry and Immunology and Perinatal Psychiatry, Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neurosciences, King's College London, London, UK
Carmine M. Pariante
Affiliation:
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Mental Health Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London, London, UK Section of Stress, Psychiatry and Immunology and Perinatal Psychiatry, Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neurosciences, King's College London, London, UK
Paola Dazzan
Affiliation:
Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
Mitul A. Mehta*
Affiliation:
Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
*
Author for correspondence: Mitul A. Mehta, E-mail: mitul.mehta@kcl.ac.uk
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Abstract

Background

Postpartum psychosis (PP) is a severe postpartum disorder. While working memory and emotional processing-related brain function are consistently impaired in psychoses unrelated to the puerperium, no studies have investigated them in PP.

Methods

Twenty-four women at risk of developing PP (11 developed an episode – PE; 13 remained well – NPE) and 20 healthy postpartum women completed two functional magnetic resonance imaging tasks within a year of delivery: working memory (n-back) and emotional face recognition (fearful faces). We compared women at-risk of PP to controls, as well as NPE, PE, and controls to test for potential effects of a PP episode occurrence.

Results

Women at-risk of PP and PE showed hyperactivation of lateral visual areas, precuneus, and posterior cingulate during the n-back task. The at-risk group as a whole, as well as the PE and NPE groups, showed hyperconnectivity of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) with various parieto-occipito-temporo-cerebellar regions compared to controls during several n-back conditions. Increases in connectivity between the right DLPFC and ipsilateral middle temporal gyrus were observed in the PE group compared to NPE during 2-back. During the fearful faces task, at-risk women as a group showed hyperactivation of fronto-cingulo-subcortical regions, and hypoconnectivity between the left amygdala and ipsilateral occipito-parietal regions compared to controls. No significant performance differences were observed.

Conclusions

These results present preliminary evidence of a differential nature of functional brain abnormalities in PP compared to the typically observed reduced connectivity with the DLPFC in psychoses unrelated to puerperium, such as bipolar disorder.

Keywords

Emotional processingfMRIfunctional connectivitypostpartum psychosisworking memory
Type
Original Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 51 , Issue 10 , July 2021 , pp. 1724 - 1732
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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