Bipolar Disorder Vulnerability: Perspectives from Pediatric and High-Risk Populations

Bipolar Disorder Vulnerability: Perspectives from Pediatric and High-Risk Populations synthesizes our current understanding of high-risk and pediatric populations to aid readers in identifying markers of vulnerability for the development of bipolar disorder, with an ultimate goal of the development of drug targets and other therapies for early diagnosis and treatment. The book provides readers with an understanding of biological and environmental factors influencing disease manifestation that will aid them in defining discrete clinical stages and, importantly, establish an empirical basis for the application of novel therapeutics in a phase of illness during which specific treatments could more effectively alter disease course.

Whereas most of the literature available on the pathophysiological mechanisms of bipolar disorder focuses on chronically ill adult individuals, this represents the only book that specifically examines pediatric and high-risk populations. An estimated 30 to 60 percent of adult bipolar disorder patients have their disease onset during childhood, with early-onset cases representing a particularly severe and genetically loaded form of the illness.

Highlights diverse translational methodologies, including functional and structural neuroimaging, neuropsychological testing and integrated genomicsExamines molecular trajectories in youth with bipolar disorder and unaffected youth at high risk for developing bipolar disorderExplores the interaction between genomic and environmental influences that shape behavior

1. Presentation and prospective course of pediatric bipolar disorder 2. The Bipolar Prodrome 3. Animal models of the bipolar prodrome 4. Polygenic risk in family members of patients with bipolar disorder 5. Gene-Environment interactions in high-risk populations 6. Influence of early childhood trauma on the prodrome of bipolar disorder 7. Neurobiological markers of stress in youth at risk for bipolar disorder 8. Neuroimaging findings in youth at risk for bipolar disorder 9. Neurocognitive findings in youth at risk for bipolar disorder 10. Neuropsychological and social cognitive function in young people at genetic risk for bipolar disorder 11. Behavioral and emotional dysregulation trajectories in symptomatic youth 12. Cognitive and neural basis of hypomania 13. Early pharmacological interventions to prevent full onset of bipolar disorder 14. Psychotherapeutic interventions 15. Summary and integration of current findings: A model for Bipolar Disorder Development