The Brains Of Youngsters With Bipolar Disorders Are Physically Different
The brains of youngsters who suffer with bipolar disorder differ physically from those of the same age without bipolar disorder.
This finding was revealed in research conducted at Harvard Medical School. The same study also discovered differences in sizes of the brain between girls and boys regardless of whether bipolar disorder was a factor.
The research project took 103 brain scans of children and adolescents who had either bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. The scientists found that the a region of the brain called the nucleus accumbens, which is responsible for motivation and pleasure, was actually larger in those youngsters with bipolar disorder.
In addition, the trial discovered that the thalamus - that part of the brain through which sensory information passes on to the cerebral cortex was smaller in children who had schizophrenia.
These findings may indicate that due to the development of the brain, some of its structures may be more susceptible to developing mental illness - such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia -- in some youngsters. This is especially true during puberty. Scientists believe that these changes in brain development may actually be biomarkers, specific traits that make the brain more vulnerable to illnesses like bipolar disorder.
In contrast, the hippocampus of those youngsters with bipolar disorder, were smaller than those who did not suffer from this mental illness. The hippocampus is the portion of the brain which is critical to your memory. But this difference only held up for those individuals who had already gone through puberty and were especially noticeable in girls with bipolar disorder.
Jean A. Frazier, M.D., director of the Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatric Research Program at Cambridge Health Alliance, explained: "Future studies need to look at sex differences over time in order to understand more about these mental disorders [such as bipolar disorder] and the information gleaned from these studies may help researchers determine how to best help children who suffer from these conditions."
This research shows vividly that adolescence is a critical time for the vulnerability for the development of both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
It is also believed that this study is the first to examine and determine if specific areas of the brain differ not only because of gender and adolescent development, but also the presence of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
