Study aims to redefine bipolar disorder wiring in the brain for better treatments
By Pooja Mamnoor
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2/13/25 (LAPost.com) — A global study led by the USC Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute (Stevens INI) aims to map structural brain changes in people with bipolar disorder, a chronic mental illness that currently lacks biological tools for diagnosis and treatment.
The research initiative, funded by the National Institutes of Health, brings together more than 230 psychiatric researchers worldwide under the Enhancing Neuro Imaging Genetics through Meta Analysis (ENIGMA) Consortium’s Bipolar Disorder Working Group. The project will analyze brain scans from 3,500 individuals with bipolar disorder and 8,500 healthy controls across 45 research centers.
Christopher R.K. Ching, assistant professor of research neurology at Stevens INI, will lead the study in collaboration with Matthew Kempton of King’s College London. “By combining existing brain imaging and clinical data samples from leading research groups around the world, we are hoping to break new ground in mapping the brain signatures of BD as well as how they compare to other conditions like major depressive disorder, which share similar risk factors, symptoms, and treatments,” Ching said.
The research team will employ voxel-based morphometry, an advanced analysis method that enables precise mapping of subtle structural changes throughout the brain. This technique differs from traditional neuroimaging approaches by avoiding the averaging of features across larger predefined brain regions, allowing researchers to examine emotion and reward processing centers affected by bipolar disorder in detail.
