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TMS has been around since 1985, a much longer time than most people would expect for such innovative neurotechnology. TMS does not have any known side effects and is non-invasive and painless (although at first it can be a bit uncomfortable). Patients remain awake during the procedure and are allowed to engage in any activityContinue reading “TMS for Bipolar Disorder”

Lithium Lithium has been the gold standard of bipolar medication since the 1950’s. However, lithium only works in approximately one third of patients. The side effects can be severe and include nausea, weight gain, muscle tremors, emotional numbing, weight gain and birth defects for the offspring of pregnant women. Up until recently, scientists and doctorsContinue reading “How Bipolar Medications Work”

In addition to bipolar type 1 and bipolar type 2, bipolar disorder can be further divided into two categories: bipolar disorder with psychosis and bipolar disorder without psychosis. Many genes are currently being studied to determine their role in psychosis, including D-amino acid oxidase, group II metabotropic glutamate receptors, ZNF804A, and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT). The neurotransmitterContinue reading “Neurobiology of Psychosis”

MRI studies have found abnormalities in the brain’s prefrontal cortical areas, striatum (part of the basal ganglia, which initiate movement), and the amygdala (the emotional and fear center of the brain) in the early onset of bipolar disorder. After a number of episodes, manic and depressive, differences have been found in the cerebellar vermis (partContinue reading “Neuroanatomy of Bipolar Disorder”

The prevailing hypothesis for the neurochemicals involved in bipolar disorder is the monoamine hypothesis, which suggests that bipolar disorder is caused by an imbalance in the neurotransmitters dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine. This hypothesis has been supported by the relative success of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s) and selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI’s). Norepinephrine levels areContinue reading “Neurochemistry of Bipolar Disorder”

Fifty percent of patients with bipolar disorder have a family history. In families known as multiplex families, the majority of members display the phenotype of the disorder across generations. Twin studies show that the concordance for bipolar illness is between 40 percent and 80 percent in monozygotic twins and is only 10 to 20 percentContinue reading “Genetics of Bipolar Disorder”

This website is written by Taylor Bak. Many studies have supported that depression causes cognitive impairment (Beats, Sahakian & Levy, 1996; Porter, Bourke & Gallagher, 2007). These impairments include deficits in short-term memory, verbal and visual recognition memory, spatial recognition memory, and both immediate and delayed memory recall (Murphy, & Sahakian, 2001) Clinically depressed patientsContinue reading “Neuropsychology of Bipolar Disorder”