Table 4:

Cross-sectional and repeated-measures MRS studies of severe mood dysregulation

StudySampleMethods (Device/FS/TR/TE/Sequence)Region-of-Interest Voxel Size and LocationFindings
Dickstein et al, 20089336 Euthymic unmedicated patients with severe mood dysregulation, (mean age, 12.2 yr),Signaa/1.5T/2000/30/PRESS8 mL in the right frontal cortex,↓ mIns/tCre in severe mood dysregulation in the left temporal lobe (P = .03);
8 mL in the left temporal cortex,no significant group differences in mIns/tCre, NAA/tCre, or Glx/tCre in the other regions of interest;
43 healthy volunteers, (mean age, 12.9 yr)8 mL in the central parieto-occipital lobe,females with severe mood dysregulation showed trends toward
8 mL in the left parietal lobe↓ mIns/tCre in the left temporal cortex (P = .07),
↑ tCre in the left temporal cortex (P = .08), and
↑ Glx/tCre in the left parietal lobe (P = .08)
Dickstein et al, 20099425 Euthymic unmedicated patients with severe mood dysregulation, randomized to 6 weeks of treatment withSigna/1.5T/2000/30/PRESS8 mL in the right frontal cortex,There was a significant Group × Time interaction for Glx/tCre in the parieto-occipital lobe (P = .01), with ↑ Glx/tCre in the lithium group and ↓ Glx/tCre in the placebo group;
lithium (n = 14; mean age, 10.8 yr; mean serum lithium level = 0.82 mmol/L)8 mL in the left temporal cortex,Group × Time interactions for mIns/tCre, NAA/tCre, and Glx/tCre in the other regions of interest were nonsignificant
or8 mL in the central parieto-occipital lobe,
placebo (n = 11; mean age, 12.1 yr)8 mL in the left parietal lobe,
scans obtained at baseline and 6 weeks
  • Note:—TR and TE are expressed in milliseconds. FS indicates field strength; PRESS, point-resolved spectroscopic sequence; ↓, decreased; ↑, increased; tCre, total creatine.

  • a GE Healthcare, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.