Identifying Apathy Markers Linked to Cognitive Decline in Older Adults with Bipolar Disorder Using Wrist Activity Monitors and Brain MRI

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are investigating apathy-related neurobehavioral markers in elderly individuals aged 70 to 85 years with bipolar disorder. The goal is to identify reliable signs that may predict a higher risk of progressing to dementia by analyzing motor activity, spoken language, and brain changes using MRI. The study compares elderly bipolar disorder patients with healthy volunteers within the same age range to better understand these markers. Participants will wear a wrist actigraph device for 4 full days to record their body movements. After this period, they will have a 45-minute MRI scan that captures various brain features, including degenerative, inflammatory, vascular, and functional connectivity aspects. The MRI includes several imaging techniques such as anatomical 3DT1, multicompartment models like NODDI, 3D FLAIR, arterial spin labeling, and resting-state BOLD. During the study, participants complete three cognitive tasks assessing verbal memory, verbal fluency, and emotional storytelling. Data from the actimeter and MRI are collected and securely stored for analysis. Researchers will compare actigraphy data from bipolar participants with healthy controls over four days. Speech biomarkers and MRI-derived brain features will also be studied at baseline and at follow-up intervals for bipolar participants. The study includes safety monitoring and lasts up to 36 months for some assessments.

Apathy-related Neurobehavioral Markers of Cognitive Decline in Old-age Bipolar Disorders: Proof-of-concept