Personality traits related to juvenile myoclonic epilepsy: MRI reveals prefrontal abnormalities through a voxel-based morphometry study

• Published in: Epilepsy & behavior Vol. 15; no. 2; pp. 202 - 207
• Main Authors: de Araújo Filho, Gerardo Maria, Jackowski, Andrea Parolin, Lin, Katia, Guaranha, Mirian S.B, Guilhoto, Laura M.F.F, da Silva, Henrique Hattori, Caboclo, Luís Otávio Sales Ferreira, Júnior, Henrique Carrete, Bressan, Rodrigo Affonseca, Yacubian, Elza Márcia T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01-06-2009
• Subjects: Adult; Brain Mapping; Case-Control Studies; Cluster B personality disorders; Female; Humans; Idiopathic generalized epilepsy; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy; Magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; Myoclonic Epilepsy, Juvenile - complications; Myoclonic Epilepsy, Juvenile - pathology; Neurology; Personality; Personality Disorders - complications; Prefrontal Cortex - pathology; Psychiatric disorders; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Retrospective Studies; Surveys and Questionnaires; Voxel-based morphometry; Young Adult; Idiopathic generalized epilepsy; Magnetic resonance imaging; Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy; Cluster B personality disorders; Psychiatric disorders; Voxel-based morphometry
• ISSN: 1525-5050; 1525-5069
• DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2009.03.011

Abstract Studies involving juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) patients have demonstrated an elevated prevalence of cluster B personality disorders (PD) characterized as emotional instability, immaturity, unsteadiness, lack of discipline, and rapid mood changes. We aimed to verify a possible correlation between structural brain abnormalities in magnetic resonance image (MRI) and the PD in JME using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Sixteen JME patients with cluster B PD, 38 JME patients without psychiatric disorders, and 30 healthy controls were submitted to a psychiatric evaluation through SCID I and II and to a MRI scan. Significant reduction in thalami and increase in mesiofrontal and frontobasal regions’ volumes were observed mainly in JME patients with PD. Structural alterations of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), involved in regulation of mood reactivity, impulsivity, and social behavior, were also observed. This study supports the hypothesis of frontobasal involvement in the pathophysiology of cluster B PD related to JME.