A University of Minnesota Medical School research team, led by Ziad Nahas, MD, has been awarded a $4.4 million grant for a first-in-the-world study of prefrontal cortical stimulation in severe bipolar disorder.
The funding, from Breakthrough Discoveries for thriving with Bipolar Disorder (BD²), will be used to explore how large-scale brain networks regulate mood in bipolar disorder, and how pushing and pulling these networks may contribute to the shifts between depression and mania.
The research will specifically test a novel type of brain stimulation - known as Personalized and Adaptive Cortico Electrostimulation (PACE) - shown to treat depressive symptoms. By doing so, the team also aims to identify the underlying mechanisms of mood switching in bipolar disorder and use optimal tuning of stimulation parameters to relieve symptoms.
The University of Minnesota is uniquely positioned to undertake this complex and cutting-edge proposal. A better understanding of what the neurobiological systems that govern bipolar disorder are and how to best modulate them will undoubtedly lead to better treatment options for a very debilitating and often deadly psychiatric illness."
Dr. Ziad Nahas, MD, psychiatrist with M Health Fairview
The third round of BD² Discovery Research grants were awarded to four teams across the country - all aimed at examining the key mechanisms of bipolar disorder.
The University of Minnesota study aims to begin enrollment in 2026. More information on studies at the Interventional Psychiatry Research Lab can be found at [email protected].
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