HOUSTON – (Jan. 24, 2017) – A volume decrease in specific parts of the brain’s hippocampus – long identified as a hub of mood and memory processing – was linked to bipolar disorder in a study led by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). The research was published today in Molecular Psychiatry, part of the Nature Publishing Group.
“Our study is one of the first to locate possible damage of bipolar disorder in specific subfields within the hippocampus,” said Bo Cao, Ph.D., first and corresponding author and a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth. “This is something that researchers have been trying to answer. The theory was that different subfields of the hippocampus may have different functions and may be affected differently in different mood disorders, such as bipolar disorder and major depression disorder.”
Cao hopes the study, which was funded in part by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), will pioneer future research on details within the hippocampus as a marker for precise diagnosis and positive treatment response of bipolar disorder.
Approximately 6 million Americans suffer from bipolar disorder. Bipolar I disorder is characterized by mood changes that can swing from a high-energy, manic state to a low-energy, depressive state. The disorder can affect sleep, energy level and the ability to think clearly, according to the National Institutes of Health. It can interfere with a person’s ability to work and perform daily living activities, and could lead to suicide attempts. Patients with bipolar II disorder do not experience the full-blown manic episodes, but may have a less severe high-energy state.
The research team used a combination of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and a state-of-the-art segmentation approach to discover differences in the volumes of subfields of the hippocampus, a seahorse-shaped region in the brain. Subjects with bipolar disorder were compared to healthy subjects and subjects with major depressive disorder.
Researchers found that subjects with bipolar disorder had reduced volumes in subfield 4 of the cornu ammonis (CA), two cellular layers and the tail portion of hippocampus. The reduction was more severe in patients with bipolar I disorder than other mood disorders investigated.
Further, in patients with bipolar I disorder, the volumes of certain areas such as the right CA 1 decreased as the illness duration increased. Volumes of other CA areas and hippocampal tail were more reduced in subjects who had more manic episodes.
Jair Soares, M.D., Ph.D., professor, chairman and the Pat R. Rutherford, Jr., Chair in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at UTHealth, was senior author of the paper. Other UTHealth co-authors included Benson Mwangi, Ph.D.; Henrique Amaral-Silva, Ph.D.; Jonika Tannous; Mon-Ju Wu, Ph.D.; and Giovana Zunta-Soares, M.D. Soares is a member and Tannous is a student of The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston.
Funding from the NIMH, part of the National Institutes of Health, was under grant R01 085666. Additional funding came from the John S. Dunn Foundation and the Pat Rutherford, Jr. Endowed Chair in Psychiatry through Soares.
Source: The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth)
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As I read I am shocked. I have migraines and ovarian cysts on my right side. I also have gerd and neck/shoulder pain. I have felt sick for many years going from dr to dr with no information. I finally found a dr that listened. He looked at my medications and listened to my current complaints and realized I had bipolar disorder. It is frustrating that I had this for close to ten years and nobody else ever thought of this issue.
This news seemed to confirm me, in some way to remove some of the shame you feel when other people blame you for your illness (the stigma that makes so many of us conceal our illness from others). Because I was abused in an alcoholic household I also have complex PTSD, as it seems many of us do. That was a very real source of shame.
So I thank Dr. Cao and others who are examining our illness as brain function.
Chiari.
I suffer from/with bipolar… I was diagnosed at age 38, a month before my 39th b-day. My life changed. My career ended. At 40, I asked a wonderful man if he would marry me, so I could have health insurance (he was 50, employed…until 16 months after were married…and his company closed…)
He accepts me. I love him forever.
My family….not even going to go there!
Anyway…I have neck shoulder pain, that I ignored for 10 years. When the numbness an d swelling…. I saw a specialist, MRI, I was told that spinal cord “injury”?… spinal fluid is not cushioning my spinal cord. And no surgery for it and never see a chiropractor. My neck needs to be “lengthened” so spinal fluid can flow. I had physical therapy…and used (bought) a traction device. My head gets strapped in, and I pump the hand pump, and it pulls my head, stretches my neck. It feels good. 2-3 times a day 15-30 minutes.
My hands and feet ached and tingly and numb. I ignored it… until…. it felt like every bone in my feet were breaking…. and numbness.
Diabetes test. Now my insurance is/ has been since I was 41, Medicare. Well,
1. Medicare is not for people under 65 with illness/disability, but when you receive draw from your social security retirement (SSDI), 24 months you are automatically enrolled…
Because I am younger than 65 and on Medicare, I have less coverage.
Diabetes tests and others aren’t covered for me 1. I am under 65 2. I am not overweight 3. I do not have high blood pressure 4. I do not have high cholesterol.
No diabetes…I saw a nerve specialist who wanted to do more tests. I asked if they were covered by Medicare and no one was sure. WHAT? I would have wait after the tests were done and billed…
and if Medicarewin’t cover 80% my supplement plan ($300 a month) won’t either.
I cancelled the appointment.
Chiari. Glad I read the article
Thank you
I am wondering also about trauma but could bipolar be linked to chari malformation 1, I was diagnosed with bipolar at 13 showed syptoms all my life. I suffer from migraines on the right side, had female problems on the right side. I live and think outside the box.
Britty,
Very interesting to hear of the someone else with the connection. I also have bipolar and chiari!
Thank you for posting this hippocampus research. My questions and comments are inspired by but go beyond this research. I wonder if the “damage” in the hippocampus could be caused by trauma. I’m also interested in the relationship between the gut and the brain. I’ve read some about this. I wonder how my chronic gut (intestinal) condition may be related to my bipolar brain. I was diagnosed with a bipolar disorder at age 26. I am now 60, stable and living well. I’ve learned my triggers and how to manage them. My belief system about bipolar disorder includes trauma, I don’t believe bipolar is only a chemical imbalance or only a faulty brain that needs to be repaired. Many of us are poets, artists, writers and creative thinkers who live outside the social norm, and probably outside of the hippocampus norm, too.
If you are fortunate to live in a state that has legalized marijuana, the weed is separated by levels of THC, and other components. It is being fine tuned. That makes a great difference to me.
I love the way you think… I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Love this connection! ♡ Thanks for your treasured imput
Thats weird that you do well with Marijuana. Every doctor my daughter has seen has warned her to stay away from anything with THC because that can make her moods worse. Some suggested CBD but shared never to take any THC items