More Brain Activity in Bipolar Child than Bipolar Adult

            The article I found discusses certain differences seen in patients with bipolar disorder, depending on their ages. Specifically, there was a finding that stated children with bipolar disorder have higher levels of activation in their right amygdala when seeing emotional faces than adults did. The right amygdala is a brain region that deals with subconscious or nonconscious processing of emotion. Due to this particular comparison between children and adults, it was proposed that a treatment for bipolar children would be introducing them to certain “target emotional face identification” activities. These include brain games or individual therapy. This article was interesting to me because it reminded me of The Psychopath Inside, when Fallon speaks of his bipolar disorder. He mentions that as a child he experienced “wildly disorienting and bizarre emotions accompanying the regular panic attacks” he “experienced starting when” he “was eighteen.” As he became older, he realized that his “adult life had been replete with a riot of positive feelings…” to the extent that seemed rather annoying to people around him (Fallon 178). This correlates with the finding in the article that the younger a bipolar patient, the more intense and unsettling his or her thoughts are compared to a bipolar adult. Furthermore, Fallon recalls that he has memories of a certain perception at around age three of a point of light hitting him above the brow line right as he was about to fall asleep. He recalls that “the experience was weird and wild,” and that he could not remember if it may have started before that age (Fallon 185). Such sensations are induced by a high level of serotonin in the temporal lobe. The article states that researchers compared brain activity between children and adults when they were exposed to emotional stimuli. In each case, there was more activity in the temporal lobe of a bipolar child than a bipolar adult. I found it rather surprising that researchers are trying to use computer-based brain games that target these affected areas of the brain as a possible treatment for children to allow as much ease as possible in their childhood.

Bibliography

"Difference Found in Way Bipolar Disorder Affects Brains of Children versus Adults." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 18 June 2014. Web. 27 Feb. 2015.