Neuroimaging of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in Bipolar Disorder: ideas and considerations for future research.

Abstract

Suicide is common in Bipolar Disorder (BD). The estimated prevalence is 20-30 times higher in BD patients than in the general population and almost half of the individuals with BD attempt suicide during their lives 1 . An increasing number of studies have used neuroimaging methods to examine the neural mechanisms underlying suicidal thoughts and behaviors see 2 for a comprehensive overview, which may increase our understanding of the pathophysiology and inform suicide prevention strategies. While these studies have shown an important role of fronto-temporal regions in suicidal thoughts and behaviors 2 some important questions and opportunities for future research remain. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.