Perceptual Flip and Bipolar- A Prospective Diagnostic clue?

Of major concern to neuroscientists in relation to Bipolar seems to be the lack of a reliable diagnostic tool.

Dr Steven Miller, a neuroscientist from Monash University and his team have been working on the bipolar disease for quite a long time trying to to establish a biological marker for the disease. A biological marker is a biological parameter which can be used as an index to the various traits of a particular disease, like for instance:

• The risks associated with a disease
• The diagnosis of that particular disease
• The epidemiological studies regarding that disease
• The effect of the environment and risks associated with them etc.

The human eyes are normally exposed to more or less, the same kind of things, which means that we see the same objects with both of our eyes. The brain takes in the visual input presented by both the eyes and then processes the different input in a satisfactory manner. So when we look at a certain object with both the eyes we are capable of judging the distance of the object from our respective position.

When the eyes are each exposed to different objects the brain becomes a bit puzzled. Instead of combining the visual input data, the brain tries to process the data input from each eye at a different pace and we see each image differently one after the other. The normal pace is between 1 to 2 seconds. The alternation between the 2 different images is known as the Perceptual Flip Phenomenon.

Miller and Professor Jack Pettigrew at the University of Queensland, together conducted clinical research with almost 200 different individuals. Each were given a special type of goggles which displayed horizontal stripes to one eye, while simultaneously displaying vertical stripes to the other eye. This artificially created situation is known as Binocular Rivalry.

The results revealed that while most of the tested subjects had a perceptual flip time of around 1 to 2 seconds those subjects suffering from manic depression or bipolar disease had a significantly lower perceptual flip rate, which varied from 3 to even 10 seconds.

These results require further in depth scrutiny to confirm whether this difference in flip rate was actually due to the bipolar disease or the medications being consumed for it. The study was repeated this time with 350 pairs of twins who had no history of any psychiatric disorder. The results revealed that the identical twins had a more similar perceptual flip rate, whereas the non identical twins had slightly differing rates. This study confirmed the fact that the perceptual flip rate is inherited through genes. Miller has further suggested that the perceptual flip rate is a BIOLOGICAL MARKER OF BIPOLAR DISEASE  but has also stated that it cannot be confirmed as a diagnostic tool as it is too early to do so and requires further study and research.