NARSAD Research Identifies Impaired Brain Circuitry in Children with Bipolar Disorder

Dr. Pavuluri of the University of Illinois at Chicago led a study that used sophisticated brain imaging technology (functional magnetic resonance imaging or fMRI) to identify and map a circuit in the brain that is impaired in pediatric bipolar disorder.

Her work gives greater insight into how thinking is affected by emotions in children with bipolar disorder. She was able to locate the interface of affective (emotional) and cognitive (thinking) circuitry in the brain and revealed greater activation of the amygdala in children with bipolar disorder. Dr. Pavuluri's groundbreaking results were reported in the March 2009 Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.