Neuroanatomical Findings in Bipolar Disorder

Over the past three decades, numerous cross-sectional neuroimaging studies have reported neuroanatomical abnormalities in patients with bipolar disorder compared with healthy volunteers. These studies have highlighted those anatomical regions likely to harbor pathophysiological abnormalities underpinning the disorder. However, there are inconsistencies in several of the findings reported, and the precise etiology of structural brain abnormalities remains unclear - for example, the extent to which neuroanatomical abnormalities are driving illness development as distinct from consequential to its treatment.