Is Bipolar Depression Different from Unipolar Depression?

Patients with bipolar depression (BD) and those with unipolar major depressive disorder (MDD) may differ in the regulation of positive and negative emotions. To learn more, Dutch investigators used functional magnetic resonance imaging in unmedicated patients — 21 with current MDD, 9 with current BD, 21 with remitted MDD, and 26 with remitted BD — and in 36 healthy controls. Depression levels were moderate.

Participants were asked to “attend” or to regulate their emotional reactions to pictures of sad, happy, fearful, and neutral faces; they then rated their reactions. Emotion regulation involved distancing oneself from one's reactions (e.g., by telling oneself, “This is only a picture.”).

Compared with controls, patients with current BD had …