According to The World Health Organization, bipolar disorder affects about 60 million people globally.

This debilitating psychiatric mood disorder has serious far reaching health implications that affect individuals and families in every facet of their lives. Much of the issue has been in finding the “neurobiological mechanism” behind the disorder, that once discovered, would develop a more pinpoint approach that would lead to better treatments. Part of the problem of making advancements in the treatment of bipolar disorder has been a lack of sufficient brain scans from those with the condition. But that has all changed in the last several years.

It was made clear through the largest MRI study of patients with bipolar disorder. That there are distinct and consistent differences in key areas of the brain with those who suffer from the condition. The abnormalities in these brain regions deal with controlling inhibitions and emotions.

Senior author of the study and a professor at the Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research at the University of Oslo, Ole A. Andreassen says, “We created the first global map of bipolar disorder and how it affects the brain, resolving years of uncertainty on how people’s brains differ when they have the severe illness”.

The 2017 study was first published in Molecular Psychiatry, and was part of an international consortium led by the USC Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics at the Keck Scholl of Medicine of USC: ENIGMA (Enhancing Neuro Imaging Genetics Through Meta Analysis). This includes 26 various research groups worldwide and involves 76 centers.

Within the study, researchers measured MRI scans of 6,503 people in total, 4,056 healthy individuals and 2,447 adults with bipolar disorder. They examined and analyzed :

• commonly used prescription meds

• age of illness onset

• state of mood

• history of psychosis

• sex and age differences on cortical regions

The results of the study revealed a thinning of gray matter in the brains of patients with bipolar disorder as compared to the healthy participants. The greatest amounts of deficits were seen in the frontal and temporal lobes, that control motivation and inhibitions.

Of those who had bipolar disorder and had a history of psychosis demonstrated a greater loss in the brains gray matter. The findings also showed that those patients who took lithium treatments, anti-epileptic and anti-psychotic treatments, showed a more protective measure with less thinning in the affected brain areas.

According to some of the senior research team of scientists, this was an important finding that could impact where in the brain to look for a therapeutic effect from these drugs.

Research in the future, will center on early detection and prevention according to Paul Thomson, director of the ENIGMA consortium and co-author of the study.

The findings of this study has now created a roadmap on where to look for treatments and their effects for bipolar disorder within specific regions of the brain.

-A Balanced Brain is a Better Brain-