Researchers at the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin “are using state-of-the-art neuroimaging techniques and artificial intelligence to identify changes in the brain among children of adults living with bipolar disorder.” Dell Medical School’s website has the news release.
Bipolar disorder is a debilitating condition that affects about 3% of U.S. adults, and the highest risk factor for the disorder is “having a close family member with the condition.” Jorge Almeida, director of the Bipolar Disorder Center at Mulva Clinic for the Neurosciences and a co-investigator in the study, characterizes bipolar disorder’s effects as “the brain [having] too much energy…delivered by its reward system,” which can affect “the brain’s ability to regulate the amount of energy driving it to act.” This can result in “manic behaviors such as spending too much money, engaging in risky behaviors, and sleep loss or disruption.”
The research is leveraging “AI algorithms to discern variations in participants’ brains, combining imaging data with cognitive, clinical, early life adversity and psychosocial function measures. The result is a precise delineation of brain maturation for each person at risk of developing bipolar disorder.”
The study will take place over five years and aims to identify “early signs that the brain is developing bipolar disorder” with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
