Imaging Bipolar Disorder
The Archives of General Psychiatry reports that as many as one million American children have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. This number remains controversial because it represents a 40-fold increase in diagnoses from the previous decade. This increase begs the question: was the disease under-diagnosed in the past or over-diagnosed today? A new study hopes to fin the answer to this and other questions about bipolar disorder.
Bipolar disorder is a serious form of psychiatric illness characterized by mania and episodes of depression. Mania is a distinct period of elevated, expansive, or irritable mood accompanied by symptoms including decreased need for sleep, grandiosity, distractibility, and involvement in pleasurable activities with a high potential for painful consequences. Depression is defined as a distinct period of depressed mood accompanied by symptoms including anhedonia (lack of pleasure), decreased interest in usual activities, poor concentration, changes in sleep and appetite, and feelings of worthlessness or helplessness. Medication can help control the symptoms of bipolar disorder and many with the disease are able to lead normal, productive lives.
Symptoms of bipolar disorder in children can vary greatly from those in adults, making it more difficult to diagnose. Daniel Dickstein, MD, director of the Pediatric Mood, Imaging and Neurodevelopment Program (Pedi-MIND) for the Bradley Hasbro Children’s Research Center, hopes to learn more about this complicated disease.
Through the Pedi-MIND study he hopes to advance what is known about how the brain mediates behavior in children and adolescents who have psychiatric disorders, such as bipolar disorder. The program uses cutting-edge technology, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), to identify how children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders are different from those without such illnesses.
The Pedi-MIND program is currently recruiting youth ages 7 to 17 with:
The program is also recruiting healthy children without present or past psychiatric or neurological illness (including seizures or loss of consciousness) or close relatives without past or present psychiatric illness
To learn more about the Pedi-MIND program and research study, please call 401-793-8200 or visit our website.
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