"A golden age discovery in neuroscience"

Developments in imaging technology, genetics, brain chemistry and computing are promising fresh insights into the workings of the mind and mental illness.


Dr Belinda Lewis is using fMRI to study bipolar disorder at Cambridge University's Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre.

As her patients lie in the scanner they are shown a series of images conveying a range of human emotions - from fear and sadness, to joy and laughter.

The study shows both that the brains of those suffering from bipolar disorder are excessively stimulated by these images, and that they are less able to process, or interpret, that information accurately.

But perhaps the important aspect of the research, Dr Lennox claims, has been to demonstrate the presence of bipolar disorder in the brain.

"Fundamentally it shows that bipolar disorder, and in fact all mental illnesses, are brain disorders of a biological nature that warrant proper investigation including scanning. And that that will be of clinical utility in the near future."

Read the whole article (writen by Tom Feilden) here.

6th September 2012