Bipolar disorder tagged posts

For decades, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (BD) were treated as distinct and unrelated psychiatric disorders. Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder characterized by altered thinking and emotional patterns, hallucinations, false or irrational beliefs (i.e., delusions), cognitive deficits, and disorganized speech. BD, on the other hand, is marked by extreme mood swings, ranging between periods of high-energy (i.e., mania or hypomania) and depressive episodes.

While the symptoms of schizophrenia and BD are markedly different, many patients diagnosed with...

Lower BDNF levels observed in bipolar disorder patients may lead to reduced EGR3 levels. A dysfunctional pathway impairs several biological functions, including abnormal structural brain changes and cognitive and functional decline (known as neuroprogression). Disrupted neural circuits may explain the impaired neuroplasticity and resilience, increasing vulnerability to stress and mood episodes, all well-known characteristics of BD.

A new article reveals a novel potential drug target for bipolar disorder and offers new insights into the underlying biology of this lifelong and devastating mental illness. Bipolar Disorder (BD) is a multifactorial brain disorder in which patients experience radical shifts in mood and undergo periods of depression followed by periods of mania...

Bmal1/Clock complex activates transcription of genes containing E-box sequences in their promoters. Among these are Per1/2 and Cry1/2, which following dimerization can inhibit the activity of the Bmal1/Clock complex. Rev-Erb and Ror provide an additional stabilizing loop to fine-tune the expression of Bmal1. In addition to E-boxes, other clock regulatory elements (such as ROREs and D-boxes) are commonly found in the promoters of CCGs.

Disruptions of daily rhythms of the body’s master internal clock provide insight into the role of the brain’s internal time keeping system in the development of mood disorders, such as bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder MDD, which have been associated with disturbed daily (circadian) rhythms...

The Neuropsychiatric Disease-Associated Gene cacna1c Mediates Survival of Young Hippocampal Neurons

A new study shows the death of newborn brain cells may be linked to a genetic risk factor for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism, ADHD, and depression, and at the same time shows a compound currently being developed for use in humans may have therapeutic value for these diseases by preventing the cells from dying.

In 2013, the largest genetic study of psychiatric illness to date implicated mutations in the gene called CACNA1C as a risk factor in 5 major forms of neuropsychiatric disease. All the conditions also share the common clinical feature of high anxiety...