Research Regarding the Progression of Bipolar Disorder

A research study conducted by the Yale School of Medicine find that changes in the brain that are important indicators of bipolar disorder are not prominent until young adulthood and are reduced in persons taking mood-stabilizing medications. The researchers used magnetic resonance imaging to measure a part of the brain that regulates emotions, the ventral prefrontal cortex. The changes in persons with bipolar disorder were not prominent until young adulthood, suggesting that the illness progresses during the teenage years. Yale Findings Hold Promise for Stopping Progression of Bipolar Disorder