Bipolar Disorder Vulnerability

Bipolar Disorder Vulnerability synthesizes our current understanding of high-risk and pediatric populations to aid readers in identifying markers of vulnerability for development of bipolar disorder. These markers may in turn lead to identification of novel biomarkers underlying onset of bipolar disorder and, ultimately, to the development of drug targets and other therapies for early diagnosis and treatment. The book provides readers with an understanding of biological and environmental factors influencing disease manifestation that will aid them in their own work to define discrete clinical stages and, importantly, establish an empirical basis for the application of novel therapeutics in a phase of illness during which specific treatments could more effectively alter disease course. Whereas most of the literature available on the pathophysiological mechanisms of bipolar disorder focuses on chronically ill adult individuals, Bipolar Disorder Vulnerability is the only book that specifically examines pediatric and high-risk populations. An estimated 30 to 60 percent of adult bipolar disorder patients have their disease onset during childhood, with early-onset cases representing a particularly severe and genetically loaded form of the illness; bipolar patients with a childhood or adolescent onset have a worse prospective course of mood symptoms and higher rates of comorbid illness compared to those with adult onset. First-degree relatives of bipolar patients, who present a higher polygenic load of risk variants than control groups-in particular, offspring of bipolar-disorder parents have a four-fold increased risk of developing bipolar disorder compared to offspring of healthy parents, and these individuals represent an ideal population for the study of biomarkers of risk. Bipolar Disorder Vulnerability highlights diverse translational methodologies including functional and structural neuroimaging, neuropsychological testing, and integrated genomics that point towards structural, neurochemical, genetic, and functional abnormalities in these pediatric and high-risk offspring subjects. The book examines research in these two key populations and aids researchers in identifying what is known as the "bipolar prodrome," with an eye toward using identification of early signs and symptoms as a means of recognizing vulnerable subjects and developing more effective therapeutics