Neuroimaging studies bipolar disorders

Preliminaty Results of Neuroimaging Studies in Children and Adolescents with Bipolar Disorder... 

In this chapter we review extant data on the neurobiology of unipolar and bipolar depressive disorders in children and adolescents. A complement to two recent reviews (Kaufman and Ryan, 1999 Kaufman et ah, 2001), this chapter places primary emphasis on those studies in which neuroimaging techniques have been used. Unfortunately, such studies are few and far between. Preclinical models that have guided research on the neurobiology of affective disorders in adults are discussed, and, given the limits in the application of these models to juvenile samples, especially in the case of unipolar disorder, the need for more developmentally focused preclinical work is emphasized. 

Unipolar and bipolar depressive disorders in children and adolescents are serious conditions. The pathophysiology of these disorders is poorly understood. The new tools available through neuroimaging techniques will help to unravel the neuroanatomical systems involved in the onset and recurrence of these disorders. There is a need for more developmentally informed predinical research and more studies of the normal development of the neural systems implicated in emotional regulation. 

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