In this issue of the Journal, Vizueta et al. (1), a research group at the University of California, Los Angeles, led by Lori Altshuler, M.D., present findings from their latest investigation into the neural correlates of mood states in bipolar disorders. Specifically they provide novel evidence for relatively decreased corticolimbic reactivity and functional connectivity during the perceptual processing of affectively charged stimuli in patients with bipolar II disorder. In and of itself, the study usefully informs our understanding of potential pathophysiologic neural mechanisms in bipolar II disorder, which has received less attention than bipolar I disorder. However, the greater reach of this report is found within the broader context of the investigators' ongoing research seeking to identify the neural correlates of cyclic pathologic mood states as characterized by bipolar disorders.
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