Project Summary

Cecile D. Ladouceur, Ph.D. (Young Investigator 2006) of Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic and the University of Pittsburgh, plans to use imaging to investigate whether adolescents at risk for bipolar disorder (BD) show abnormalities in the prefrontal and subcortical brain regions before any onset of symptoms. Studies show that adults with BD have abnormal functioning of the prefrontal and subcortical brain regions, areas that support emotion regulation. Since the brain continues to develop during adolescence and adolescents of parents with BD are at high risk of developing BD, examining whether the adolescent offspring of BD parents exhibit dysfunction in these brain regions could identify neural markers associated with BD and target possible early interventions. Dr. Ladoucer will use fMRI to measure neural responses associated with performance on tasks that recruit the relevant brain regions in three adolescent populations: 1) offspring of adults with BD, who are at high risk of BD; 2) offspring of adults with major depressive disorder (MDD), who are at lower risk of BD, but at risk of MDD; and 3) offspring of healthy adults, who are at low risk of mood disorders.

Program Area: MOOD DISORDERS\Bipolar

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