Bipolar disorder is a heterogeneous condition with myriad clinical manifestations and many comorbidities leading to severe disabilities in the biopsychosocial realm. The objective of this review article was to underline recent advances in knowledge regarding the neurobiology of bipolar disorder. A further aim was to draw attention to new therapeutic targets in the treatment of bipolar disorder....

OBJECTIVE Literature review of the controlled studies in the last 18 years in emotion recognition deficits in bipolar disorder. METHOD A bibliographical research of controlled studies with samples larger than 10 participants from 1990 to June 2008 was completed in Medline, Lilacs, PubMed and ISI. Thirty-two papers were evaluated. RESULTS Euthymic bipolar disorder presented impairment in rec...

Although structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has revealed partly non-overlapping brain abnormalities in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, it is unknown whether structural MRI scans can be used to separate individuals with schizophrenia from those with bipolar disorder. An algorithm capable of discriminating between these two disorders could become a diagnostic aid for psychiatrists. H...

BACKGROUND It has been proposed that bipolar disorder onsets in a predictable progressive sequence of clinical stages. However, there is some debate in regard to a statistical approach to test this hypothesis. The objective of this paper is to investigate two different analysis strategies to determine the best suited model to assess the longitudinal progression of clinical stages in the develop...

Bipolar disorder is a severe mental illness characterized by recurrent manic and depressive episodes. In bipolar disorder, family and twin studies suggest contributions from genetic and environmental factors; however, the detailed molecular pathogenesis is yet unknown. Thus, identification of biomarkers may contribute to the clinical diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Monozygotic twins discordant f...

Family history and traumatic experiences are factors linked to bipolar disorder. It is known that the lifetime risk of bipolar disorder in relatives of a bipolar proband are 5-10% for first degree relatives and 40-70% for monozygotic co-twins. It is also known that patients with early childhood trauma present earlier onset of bipolar disorder, increased number of manic episodes, and more suicid...

Diagnostic confusion sometimes exists between bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder (BPD). To improve the recognition of bipolar disorder researchers have identified nondiagnostic factors that point toward bipolar disorder. One such factor is the presence of a family history of bipolar disorder. In the current report from the Rhode Island Methods to Improve Diagnostic Assessment ...

We analysed Stroop (neuropsychological screening test) measures of response inhibition in 18 twin pairs discordant for bipolar I disorder compared with 17 healthy control pairs, as well as 40 singletons with bipolar disorder with psychotic features and a family history of psychosis, 46 of their first-degree relatives without bipolar disorder or psychosis and 48 controls. In both studies, indivi...

Bipolar disorder (BD) is commonly associated with late adolescence or early adulthood, although a substantial proportion of patients develops the condition in later life. The results of early clinical investigations suggested that cases of bipolar disorder with onset in later life were more often associated with 'organic causes', and could potentially justify the distinction between early and l...

BACKGROUND Bipolar disorder is a widespread and severe brain disorder that is strongly affected by genetic factors. The PDZ and LIM domain 5 (PDLIM5) gene encodes a protein as an Enigma homologue LIM domain protein, which has been widely reported as being expressed in various brain regions. The analysis of DNA microarrays in the frontal lobes of patients with bipolar disorder has indicated chan...