This webinar will discuss normative brain changes that occur during adolescent development that may predispose toward the development of mood disorder during this critical period in vulnerable individuals. I will discuss brain changes that lead to increased risk taking behavior in adolescence, the relationship between sleep and mood, and how these factors may interact. Finally, I will discuss potential lifestyle interventions that may help to improve mood stability.
Dr. Carrie Bearden received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and joined the UCLA faculty as Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA in 2003. She holds a joint appointment in the Department of Psychology. She has received numerous awards and honors, including Young Investigator Awards from the International Congress for Schizophrenia Research and the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Affective Disorders (NARSAD), and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP), the A.E. Bennett Neuropsychiatric Research Award for Clinical Science in Biological Psychiatry, and the Samuel Gershon Junior Investigator Award from the International Society for Bipolar Disorders. Dr. Bearden’s research aims to identify underlying vulnerability markers for complex psychiatric disorders that typically develop during adolescence (primarily bipolar disorder and psychosis), which may advance our understanding of the genetic contributors and biological processes leading to these illnesses. In collaboration with geneticist Nelson Freimer, she is examining genetic variants associated with neural, cognitive and circadian anomalies associated with bipolar disorder in genetically isolated populations in Latin America.