Stony Brook University
The goal of this clinical trial is to test how specific components of diet affect brain function and behavior for individuals with bipolar. The main question it aims to answer is how glucose and ketones each affect the brain's response to risk and reward. Participants will be asked to provide blood (to assess baseline measures of how the body uses energy), and then to receive two MRI scan sessions, on separate days. During each MRI scan session, participants will play three games, from which they can win money, before and after drinking glucose (on one day) or ketones (on the other day). Investigators will compare individuals with and without bipolar to test whether the two groups differ in how their brains use energy, and to test how the brain's use of energy affects behavior.
The purpose of the study is to understand the impact of glucose vs. ketones on brain metabolism and function, in individuals with bipolar. The specific aims are to examine: 1. Stability of the brain's signaling over time. 2. Regulation of the neural circuits that process risk 3. Regulation of the neural circuits that process reward Study Procedures: Baseline Blood Samples: Blood will be taken at Massachusetts General Hospital (Translational and Clinical Research Center) to measure baseline levels of several key variables associated with metabolic function. These variables include insulin re…
Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria: * Bipolar disorder diagnosis: Patients must have a Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM)-V diagnosis of bipolar disorder on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM (SCID) * Bipolar disorder symptoms: Patients must be stable and euthymic at time of consent and testing, documented by no hospitalizations in the prior 4 weeks * Age: between 18-45 yrs for patients with bipolar disorder and age-matched controls * Weight does not exceed 350lbs. * Diameter does not exceed 60 cm when supine * HbA1C \< 7% * No non-MRI-compatible metal in the body (e.g., pacemaker, shrapnel…
A glucose drink is administered midway through one of the scan sessions.
A ketone drink is administered midway through one of the scan sessions.