Physical brain changes could be clues in predicting bipolar disorder episodes

In 10 seconds? Comparing young people with high and lower risk of bipolar disorder (BD), researchers observed how their thinking processes and parts of their brains started to differ over time. This could help predict who will experience the disorder.

Why is this significant? The study's goal was to be able to predict who will experience a manic episode ("the high" in bipolar disorder) just by looking at changes in people's brains and behavior. The paper suggests that brain networks affecting mood and cognition are strengthening over time in young people who have no close relatives with BD. However, among those, who have a close family member (parent or sibling) with bipolar disorder, these networks were weaker, even without experiencing a manic episode. For those, who have had mania the differences were even more prominent.