Читать книгу Bipolar Disorder For Dummies - Joe Kraynak - Страница 15

Many people refer to bipolar disorder as a chemical imbalance, but this phrase oversimplifies what’s actually going on and creates the false impression that your brain has too much of this or too little of that. The biological anomalies being discovered in people with bipolar disorder are complex and affect numerous biological structures and systems – throughout the body and brain – as well as how these systems interact with each other. Keep in mind that the current knowledge about bipolar disorder is still only beginning, and things are likely to change quickly and substantially as more research is done. In the following sections, we explore the facets of bipolar at work in the body that science has discovered so far.

The discussion of brain structure and function that follows is heavy and dense, but you need to know some basic terminology before you can begin to understand any discussion of how brain dysfunction plays a role in producing bipolar symptoms. We start by discussing the anatomy (structure) and physiology (function) of the brain and the cells that comprise it in order to bring you up to speed on the basics. Then, you get to the good stuff – where we explain how structural and functional anomalies in the brain may be linked to bipolar.