Cortical morphometry might predict currently prescribed vs. discontinued medications in bipolar disorder, even after controlling for the cumulative dose effects: An ENIGMA mega-analysis

Abstract

Recent research suggests that brain anatomy may help identify the most effective pharmacological treatment for each individual with bipolar disorder and reduce trial-and-error prescribing. We aimed to investigate whether brain anatomy predicts whether a medication is currently prescribed or has been discontinued, as a proxy for treatment effectiveness. The rationale is that medications that provide clinical benefit without unacceptable side effects are likely to be continued, whereas those with limited benefit or poor tolerability are typically discontinued. We used T1-weighted MRI from twelve ENIGMA-BD cohorts (n = 2462; 473 individuals with BD [61% female, age 18–73] and 1989 controls) to ..