Nonlinear dynamics of mood regulation in unaffected first-degree relatives of bipolar disorder patients

Evidence from family, twin and adoption studies indicates a heritable component to bipolar disorder (Craddock  and Jones, 1999). Because unaffected relatives share a proportion of the genetic material with the patient, abnormalities found in unaffected relatives may reflect trait-related neurobiological markers of the illness. In this sense, similar structural (Chaddock et al., 2009; McDonald et al., 20 04; van der Schot et al., 2009) and functional (Antila et al., 2007; Drapier et al., 2008; Schulze et al., 2011; Surguladze et al., 2010; Thermenos et al., 2010; Zalla et al., 2004) abnormalities in both unaffected relatives and bipolar patients have been described, particularly in relation t o neural responses to emotional stimuli (Kruger et al., 2006; Surguladze et al., 2010) and cognitive challenges (Kanske et al., 2015; Thermenos et al., 2010; Whalley et al., 2011).

Source: Journal of Affective Disorders - September 18, 2018 Category: Neurology Authors: Ortiz A, Bradler K, Garnham J, Slaney C, McLean S, Alda M Tags: Research paper Source Type: research