ISSN: 1449-2288International Journal of Biological Sciences
Global reach, higher impact
Int J Biol Sci 2023; 19(14):4539-4551. doi:10.7150/ijbs.84923 This issue Cite
Review
Pushing the Frontiers: Optogenetics for Illuminating the Neural Pathophysiology of Bipolar Disorder
1. Department of Psychiatry, the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310003, China.
2. School of Psychiatry, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325000, China.
3. The Key Laboratory of Mental Disorder's Management in Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310003, China.
4. Brain Research Institute of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310003, China.
5. Zhejiang Engineering Center for Mathematical Mental Health, Hangzhou 310003, China.
6. Department of Neurobiology, NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, School of Brain Science and Brian Medicine, and MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Science and Brain-machine Integration, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310003, China.
†These authors contributed equally.
Abstract
Bipolar disorder (BD), a disabling mental disorder, is featured by the oscillation between episodes of depression and mania, along with disturbance in the biological rhythms. It is on an urgent demand to identify the intricate mechanisms of BD pathophysiology. Based on the continuous progression of neural science techniques, the dysfunction of circuits in the central nervous system was currently thought to be tightly associated with BD development. Yet, challenge exists since it depends on techniques that can manipulate spatiotemporal dynamics of neuron activity. Notably, the emergence of optogenetics has empowered researchers with precise timing and local manipulation, providing a possible approach for deciphering the pathological underpinnings of mental disorders. Although the application of optogenetics in BD research remains preliminary due to the scarcity of valid animal models, this technique will advance the psychiatric research at neural circuit level. In this review, we summarized the crucial aberrant brain activity and function pertaining to emotion and rhythm abnormities, thereby elucidating the underlying neural substrates of BD, and highlighted the importance of optogenetics in the pursuit of BD research.
Keywords: Bipolar disorder, optogenetics, pathophysiology, frontal-limbic system, biological rhythms, animal model
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