Genetic approaches to a better understanding of bipolar disorder.

Bipolar disorder is a disease which causes major disability. The disease has both a manic and depressive component. Current standard of care consists of atypical antipsychotics for the treatment of mania, antidepressants for the treatment of depression, and mood stabilizers for the maintenance of euthymia. The molecular mechanisms which cause the disease are not well understood. Genome wide association studies have provided a set of genes which are linked to the disease. These genes show linkage to physiological and neuroanatomical alterations which are also seen in bipolar disorder.