Dr. Mani Pavuluri, associate professor of psychiatry at UIC's Institute for Juvenile Research and the Center for Cognitive Medicine is the lead author of the study. He says, "This study is very exciting because it shows that negative emotions affect cognition differently than positive emotions in these kids."
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, Pavuluri and her colleagues analyzed the brain activity of teens while they were completing certain mental tasks. The scientists researched the brains of 10 unmedicated bipolar patients with normal moods and compared them with 10 healthy subjects of the same age and gender.
The children, ranging in ages from 12 to 18, were asked to match positive or negative words with colors to determine how stimuli impact different areas of the brain responsible for emotion and cognition.
The study found the amygdala, the part of the brain that reacts to emotional stimuli, is over-reactive to negative stimuli in children with bipolar disorder. While the part of the brain that controls cognitive behavior is under-reactive.
Pavuluri says the findings have direct clinical implications for present and future medication trials and cognitive behavioral therapy used to treat children with bipolar disorder. Pediatric bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, is associated with sexual promiscuity, failure in school, addiction and suicide.
