Project Summary

Martin Alda, M.D. (Independent Investigator 2003) of Dalhousie University, will study people with bipolar disorder with differing symptoms to attempt to identify people who will respond to specific medications based on their clinical characteristics (symptoms). He will also seek to determine whether different medications have the same effect on signaling pathways in the brain and on gene expression, and if these effects are the same in everyone, or if they are specific to a certain subtype(s) of the illness. In an initial study, Dr. Alda found support for the hypothesis that two commonly used mood stabilizers—lithium and lamotrigine—are effective in very different groups of patients. One group was characterized by typical bipolar illness responsive to lithium and the other was responsive to lamotrigine and included patients with rapid cycling, comorbid (or concurrent) anxiety and a family history of panic disorder. By comparing the two groups on a number of variables, Dr. Alda hopes to discover information which may lead to better long-term treatment selection for patients with bipolar disorder, and a better understanding of the disease.

Program Area: MOOD DISORDERS\Bipolar

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