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Early-Onset Bipolar Disorder 333Figure 14-4 Areas of activation and deactivation in pediatric patients with putative prodromalBD before and after 12 weeks of divalproex monotherapy (red = areas of activation;blue = areas of decreases in activation compared to baseline). See color insert.tion. The ability of the human brain to respond to pharmacologic or environmentalstimuli with neurogenesis leads to the possibility of newly formed neuronalcircuits “healing” brain abnormalities that would otherwise lead to full BD. Theexciting potential of pharmacologic prevention of BD cannot be ignored and deservesfurther careful study.Psychotherapeutic InterventionsAs discussed earlier, it has been generally believed that psychosocial stressors suchas dysfunctional family environments, stressful life events, and ineffective copingstrategies interact with genetic predispositions to induce the full expressionof BD (Post et al., 2001). Thus, specific psychotherapeutic interventions targetedat these psychosocial factors in high-risk individuals may help prevent or delaythe onset of BD.