Amy Gancarczyk

• BSc (Hons) Psychology
• Towards an Investigation of Phosphorous in the Brain of Patients with Bipolar Disorder

The aim of the project was to support the development of magnetic resonance (MR) techniques in order to enable safe measurement of pH in the brain of patients with bipolar disorder. As phosphorus has not previously been measured in the brain using 32P MR techniques at Newcastle University, a detailed literature review was required to assess recent developments in the use of MR techniques to study phosphorus in the brain and the relevant findings to bipolar disorder. Following this, a device to safely position and hold the 32P coil to the head in the MRI scanner was designed and constructed. The coil holder will be used in order to gain information on the relationship between pH and bipolar disorder.

Project Supervisor: Dr David Cousins, Institute of Neuroscience

Funding source: Newcastle University