Hello. I am Dr Stephen M. Strakowski. I am a professor at the University of Cincinnati in the departments of psychiatry, psychology, and biomedical engineering, where I also serve within the affiliated UC Health system as senior vice president and chief strategy officer.
Today I want to talk about the functional neuroanatomy of bipolar disorder—where in the brain bipolar disorder "lives." There have been a lot of advances, particularly through neuroimaging techniques, to better understand where bipolar disorder lives in the brain and what brain regions are involved. We will review those today and then think about where the field is going next.
Bipolar disorder is defined by the occurrence of mania, particularly type I bipolar disorder. Mania is a unique syndrome in that it is very heritable. It is also very predictive of a bipolar course of illness, perhaps the most predictive syndrome in all of psychiatry. Mania is characterized by a loss of emotional control and extreme mood states, from euphoria, to lability, to irritability. Some parts of mania even include depression. Mania also is characterized by loss of control of activation levels, behavior (particularly impulsivity), novelty seeking, and other really primitive behaviors that are not modulated during the manic syndrome.
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COMMENTARY
Bipolar Disorder: Where Does It 'Live' in the Brain?
Stephen M. Strakowski, MD
DisclosuresJanuary 27, 2016
Hello. I am Dr Stephen M. Strakowski. I am a professor at the University of Cincinnati in the departments of psychiatry, psychology, and biomedical engineering, where I also serve within the affiliated UC Health system as senior vice president and chief strategy officer.
Today I want to talk about the functional neuroanatomy of bipolar disorder—where in the brain bipolar disorder "lives." There have been a lot of advances, particularly through neuroimaging techniques, to better understand where bipolar disorder lives in the brain and what brain regions are involved. We will review those today and then think about where the field is going next.
Bipolar disorder is defined by the occurrence of mania, particularly type I bipolar disorder. Mania is a unique syndrome in that it is very heritable. It is also very predictive of a bipolar course of illness, perhaps the most predictive syndrome in all of psychiatry. Mania is characterized by a loss of emotional control and extreme mood states, from euphoria, to lability, to irritability. Some parts of mania even include depression. Mania also is characterized by loss of control of activation levels, behavior (particularly impulsivity), novelty seeking, and other really primitive behaviors that are not modulated during the manic syndrome.
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Cite this: Bipolar Disorder: Where Does It 'Live' in the Brain? - Medscape - Jan 27, 2016.
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Authors and Disclosures
Authors and Disclosures
Author
Stephen M. Strakowski, MD
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, Psychology, and Biomedical Engineering, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine; Senior Vice President, Strategy and Transformation, University of Cincinnati Health, Cincinnati, Ohio
Disclosure: Stephen M. Strakowski, MD, has disclosed the following relevant financial relationships:
Serve(d) as a director, officer, partner, employee, advisor, consultant, or trustee for: Roche; Procter & Gamble; Novartis; Sunovion
Received income in an amount equal to or greater than $250 from: Roche; Procter & Gamble; Novartis; Sunovion; Oxford University Press