PHYSORG
Problems with balance, postural control and other motor control issues are frequently experienced by people with mood and psychiatric disorders such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and neurological disorders such as Huntington’s and Parkinson’s disease, but research into the connections is scant.
If problems with postural control — maintaining balance while holding oneself upright — are a core component of bipolar disorder, as the study indicates, the researchers say it is possible that the motor abnormalities could appear before other symptoms, signaling an increased risk for the disorder.
It raises the question of whether therapies that improve motor symptoms may also help mood disorders, said Amanda R. Bolbecker, lead author of the study “Postural control in bipolar disorder: Increased sway area and decreased dynamical complexity,” published last week in the “Public Library of Science ONE.”
“For a number of psychological disorders, many different psychiatric treatments and therapies have been tried, with marginal effects over the long term. Researchers are really starting to look at new targets,” said Bolbecker, research scientist in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences in IU’s College of Arts and Sciences. “Our study suggests that brain areas traditionally believed to be responsible for motor behavior might represent therapeutic targets for bipolar disorder.”
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