Grant: Operating Grant

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a highly familial, severe recurrent mood disorder that affects 2-5% of adolescents and adults. BD involves repeated episodes of mania (elated or irritable mood together with other symptoms) and depression (sadness or lack of interest/pleasure along with other symptoms). Offspring of parents with BD can help us learn about the causes of this illness before symptoms appear. For reasons yet unknown, people with BD and their unaffected relatives often have brain circuitry problems. This study seeks to discover how biological factors in the brain and in the body may explain these circuitry problems. We will compare adolescents with BD, offspring of parents with BD, and healthy adolescents. Blood vessel problems and stress markers in the blood may explain these circuitry problems. We will therefore use sophisticated brain imaging technologies to study brain circuits and brain circulation. We will also examine blood vessel function in the body, using a safe non-invasive fingertip probe. Finally, we will measure stress markers in the blood that have been linked to brain circuitry. If our predictions are accurate, this study may suggest the need to begin thinking of, and treating, BD as a multi-system disorder that affects both brain and body.