Brain oscillations in bipolar disorder and lithium-induced changes

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Biomarkers

Background:

• Electroencephalography (EEG) studies in bipolar disorder patients show reduced brain oscillation amplitudes.
• Lithium is a primary treatment for bipolar disorder, but its precise mechanisms and response variability are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and describe electroencephalography (EEG) changes induced by lithium in bipolar disorder.
• To discuss potential underlying factors contributing to these lithium-induced EEG alterations.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive literature survey was conducted focusing on EEG studies examining lithium's effects in bipolar disorder.
• Analysis included both resting-state and event-related oscillation studies.

Main Results:

• Lithium consistently enhances the magnitude of delta and theta brain oscillations across resting-state and event-related paradigms.
• Enhancement of beta oscillations is specifically observed in event-related EEG studies.
• A correlation between serum lithium levels and brain oscillation magnitudes has been reported.

Conclusions:

• Lithium-induced changes in brain oscillations may reflect alterations in neurotransmitters, signaling pathways, plasticity, brain structure, or lithium's biophysical properties.
• These EEG alterations show promise as biomarkers for assessing molecular mechanisms underlying lithium efficacy variability.
• Assessing lithium-induced EEG changes could be valuable in genetic studies to understand lithium response variability in bipolar disorder.