Scientists link bipolar disorder to unexpected brain region
Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have shown for the first time that ensembles of genes within the striatum--a part of the brain that coordinates many primary aspects of our behavior, such as motor and action planning, motivation and reward perception--could be deeply involved in the disorder. Most modern studies of bipolar disorder have concentrated on the brain's cortex, the largest part of the brain in humans, associated with higher-level thought and action. "This is the first real study of gene expression in the striatum for bipolar disorder," said Ron Davis, chair of the Department of Neuroscience at TSRI, who directed the study. "We now have a snapshot of the genes and proteins expressed in that region." The study, published recently online ahead of print in the journal Molecular Psychiatry , also points to several pathways as potential targets for treatment. Bipolar disorder is a mental illness that affec...