An international consortium spanning 76 centers published a large MRI study that found abnormalities in brain regions controlling inhibition and emotion in individuals with bipolar disorder.

Lead author Ole Andreassen, professor at the Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research at the University of Oslo, the team published its findings in Molecular Psychiatry.

"We created the first global map of bipolar disorder and how it affects the brain, resolving years of uncertainty on how people's brains differ when they have this severe illness," said Andreassen in a statement.

Patients with bipolar disorder and healthy controls all underwent MRI scans to be examined for effects of commonly used prescription medications, age of illness onset, history of psychosis, mood state, and age and sex differences on cortical regions.

Andreassen et al. found there was a thinning of gray matter in the brains of patients with bipolar disorder when compared with healthy controls. The most significant deficits were found in the frontal and temporal regions.

"These are important clues as to where to look in the brain for therapeutic effects of these drugs," said Derrek Hibar, senior scientist at Janssen Research and Development in Raritan, New Jersey.

Researchers note that the mapping of the affected brain regions will aid in early detection and prevention.

"This new map of the bipolar brain gives us a roadmap of where to look for treatment effects," said Paul Thompson, director of the ENIGMA consortium. "By bringing together psychiatrists worldwide, we now have a new source of power to discover treatments that improve patients' lives."