Bipolar disorder is a prevalent and chronic psychiatric illness that can be disabling if not well treated. It is commonly associated with comorbid systemic illnesses, morbidity, functional impairment and a high risk of suicide and mortality [1]. With proper diagnosis and treatment, patients can live productive and largely healthy lives. Although bipolar and unipolar disorders differ in some aspects, including treatment, they share common symptomatic and functional impairments, especially in depressive episodes. These disorders have some shared impairments in the white and grey matter compartments on brain imaging studies, but more white matter abnormalities have been reported in bipolar disease than in unipolar disorders. Brain imaging has been used to find the structural integrity of cortical white matter and grey matter [2]. Distinctive abnormalities of white matter connectivity and emotional and sensory neural circuitry are noted in bipolar disorders. These white matter abnormalities may be related to both axonal disorganization and demyelination or apoptosis [2].
