Bipolar Disoder: A Physical Illness
Contrary to popular belief, bipolar disorder is a physical condition in the brain. It causes chemical and structural changes that can be affirmed through high-definition brain scans, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. The fact that bipolar disorder has a physical nature is also supported by how the symptoms of bipolar disorder lessen once the patient takes bipolar medication. Lastly, bipolar disorder tends to run in families, which leads researchers to believe it has a genetic component. Even so, it is not widely understood how exactly bipolar disorder affects the brain, especially on the molecular level.
Biochemical Abnormalities
Thanks to MRI scans, it is now believed that people with bipolar disorder suffer from biochemical dysfunctions. Namely, these people have dysfunctional neurotransmitters, and since neurotransmitters are responsible for moods, these people suffer intense mood swings and mania. Though it is, as yet, impossible to detect the precise biochemical changes, it is believed that people with bipolar disorder have either too high or too low amounts of the brain's major neurotransmitters that influence mood, including serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine. Other researchers believe that the cause may be one type of neurotransmitter that is out of sync with other types (e.g., serotonin levels are dwarfed by dopamine levels).
Structural Abnormalities
Many researchers also believe that there are structural abnormalities in the brain that cause, or at least contribute to, bipolar disorder. For instance, one study found that people with bipolar disorder have higher densities of neurotransmitter-releasing cells than do people without the disorder. Furthermore, some researchers conjecture that the cause of bipolar disorder lies with the sensitivity in the brain's neuron receptors--in other words, that the receptors are too sensitive and overreact to these neurotransmitters, which in turn causes the wild mood swings of bipolar disorder.
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