Many people with mental illness struggle for years before getting a proper diagnosis.

Many people with mental illness struggle for years before getting a proper diagnosis. In a new study in the Journal of Affective Disorders found that brain imaging data could help distinguish between patients with bipolar depression and unipolar (major) depression. Scientists at Western University in Ontario, Canada, used fMRI to measure brain activity in 15 patients with bipolar disorder and 15 with major depression, and found that higher activity in the putamen, clastrum, and insula all corresponded with higher scores on the Bipolarity Index. Higher activity in the postcentral gyrus and posterior cingulate gyrus correlated with lower Bipolarity Index scores. Although fMRI is not currently used in diagnosing psychiatric disorders, the researchers hope to find useful biomarkers that will make these diagnoses easier, cheaper, and more accurate.

Source:http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013081517500018.html