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Findings from genetic and treatment studies of bipolar disorder are variable, resulting from the heterogeneity of the disorder. Two recent studies aimed to clarify these discrepancies.
Fears and colleagues identified heritable features specific to the bipolar diagnosis from 169 neuroimaging, neuropsychological, and temperamental dimensions in two genetically isolated pedigrees in regions of Costa Rica and Colombia. Of 738 individuals studied, 181 had a bipolar I diagnosis. Of all features examined, 24% were both heritable and associated with bipolar I disorder. These involved domains of temperament (delusion proneness, perceptual creativity), cognition (impaired sustained attention, verbal working memory, and inhibitory control), and neuroim…