brain connectivity tagged posts

Brain composition and bipolar disorder. MRI studies . Credit: Bipolar Lives.

Naturally occurring changes in brain wiring can help patients at high genetic risk of developing bipolar disorder avert the onset of the illness, according to a new study led by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The study’s findings open up new avenues for researchers to explore ways the brain can prevent disease expression, also known as resilience, with the hope of developing better treatments.

Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder that causes fluctuations in patients’ mood, energy, activity levels and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks. Bipolar disorder is highly heritable.

Researchers used MRI to map the connectivity patterns in the brain...

Two brain slices show different memory traits. Credit: Rotman Research Institute

Tendency to remember episodic details vs facts is reflected in intrinsic brain patterns. Why is it that some people have richly detailed recollection of past experiences (episodic memory), while others tend to remember just the facts without details (semantic memory)?

A research team from the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Health Sciences has shown for the first time that these different ways of experiencing the past are associated with distinct brain connectivity patterns that may be inherent to the individual and suggest a life-long ‘memory trait’.

“For decades, nearly all research on memory and brain function has treated people as the same, averaging across individuals,” said lead investigator Dr...