Towards a complex system understanding of bipolar disorder: A map based model of a complex winnerless competition

•We proposed a novel discrete model of bipolar disorder based on notion of winnerless competition.•Competitive maps represent the dynamics of activation in excitatory and inhibitory pathways.•The model provides a theoretical framework addressing transition between two poles of the disease.•The model represents the occurrence of rhythmic changes, rapid and ultra-rapid cycling of episodes.•The model could also represent the manicogenic effects of antidepressants.

Bipolar disorder is characterized by repeated erratic episodes of mania and depression, which can be understood as pathological complex system behavior involving cognitive, affective and psychomotor disturbance. In order to illuminate dynamical aspects of the longitudinal course of the illness, we propose here a novel complex model based on the notion of competition between recurrent maps, which mathematically represent the dynamics of activation in excitatory (Glutamatergic) and inhibitory (GABAergic) pathways. We assume that manic and depressive states can be considered stable sub attractors of a dynamical system through which the mood trajectory moves. The model provides a theoretical framework which can account for a number of complex phenomena of bipolar disorder, including intermittent transition between the two poles of the disorder, rapid and ultra-rapid cycling of episodes and manicogenic effects of antidepressants.