Abnormalities in Brain Connectivity, Structure in Suicidal Patients

Adolescents with bipolar disorder who have attempted suicide have abnormalities in the prefrontal cortex and related brain areas, preliminary research indicates.

“We observed differences in brain circuitry in adolescents and young adults who have bipolar disorder and made suicide attempts,” Hilary P. Blumberg, MD, director, Mood Disorders Research Program, Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut, told Medscape Medical News.

“These were especially in the frontal cortex and its connections. The frontal cortex is important in behaviors that may play a role in suicide behavior ― for example, in mood, decision-making, and in inhibiting impulses to take action,” explained Dr Blumberg, professor of psychiatry and diagnostic radiology at the Yale School of Medicine.

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