Genetic and neurocognitive foundations of emotion abnormalities in bipolar disorder

Abstract

Introduction. Bipolar Disorder (BD) is a serious mood disorder, the aetiology of which is still unclear. The disorder is characterised by extreme mood variability in which patients fluctuate between markedly euphoric, irritable, and elevated states to periods of severe depression. The current research literature shows that BD patients demonstrate compromised neurocognitive ability in addition to these mood symptoms. Viable candidate genes implicated in neurocognitive and socioemotional processes may explain the development of these core emotion abnormalities. Additionally, links between faulty neurocognition and impaired socioemotional ability complement genetic explanations of BD pathogenes..