Alana Colvin
Research Mentor(s): Sarah Sperry
Mentor Department: Psychiatry
Authors: Alana Colvin, Julia Smith, Sarah Sperry
Session: Session 6 (3:00pm – 3:50pm)
Presentation Type: Poster 34
Abstract
Bipolar disorder causes many complications in day-to-day life, including impulsivity. Impulsivity is not well understood and therefore unable to be treated in people with bipolar disorder. The goal of this study is to help identify neural markers related to impulsivity in daily life that could be used to develop more helpful interventions. The study aims to gather data on impulsivity in 40 healthy controls, 40 participants with subclinical bipolar disorder, and 40 participants with diagnosed bipolar disorder. By gathering data from these participants through Electroencephalography (EEG) during a behavioral impulsivity task (‘Go, No-go’ task), we were able to compile the areas of the brain that were activated across the three groups to compare the differences in their impulsiveness and overall brain function. This task consisted of clicking a button only when a face with a certain emotion was flashed onto the screen. Impulsivity was measured by the participants ability to withhold from pressing the button for incorrect (non-target) emotions (e.g. a happy face when told to only click when they see a sad face). So far, EEG impulsivity data has been collected from 29 bipolar, 22 subclinical, and 33 healthy control participants. So far, results reveal that those with subclinical and diagnosed bipolar disorder were not only more impulsive, but had a different series of brain activations than the healthy control group. These results provide insight into the relationship between bipolar disorder and impulsivity. The implications of this study will spark further investigation into ways to treat impulsivity in patients with bipolar disorder, specifically at the brain level. These subsequent studies would help to create neuromodulation interventions with effects on the primary cortex to improve the lives of those who experience impulsivity as a result of bipolar disorder.
