---
title: "Psych News Alert: Brain Differences Seen in Children Who Experience Severe Irritability"
description: Children who experience extreme irritability in the face of frustration may have a distinct psychiatric illness that is not bipolar disord...
image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_36162220-Jun-24-2025-04-44-12-3680-PM.jpg
---

 8/26/11 12:00 AM

# Brain Differences Seen in Children Who Experience Severe Irritability

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [ Psychiatric News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert)

Share: [facebook-f icon ](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/08/brain-differences-seen-in-children-who.html) [linkedin-in icon ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/08/brain-differences-seen-in-children-who.html) [Twitter icon ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/08/brain-differences-seen-in-children-who.html) [pinterest-p icon ](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/08/brain-differences-seen-in-children-who.html) [envelope icon ](mailto:?body=https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/08/brain-differences-seen-in-children-who.html)

[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_36162220-Jun-24-2025-04-44-13-5445-PM.jpg?width=200&height=126&name=shutterstock_36162220-Jun-24-2025-04-44-13-5445-PM.jpg)](https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_36162220-Jun-24-2025-04-44-11-5875-PM.jpg) 

Children who experience extreme irritability in the face of frustration may have a distinct psychiatric illness that is not bipolar disorder.  New research using magnetoencephalography and a computerized game rigged to induce frustration shows distinct neural correlates underlie the phenomena of irritability and distinguish a subgroup of children who may have a diagnostic entity distinct from bipolar disorder (BD).

That’s important because many children who have symptoms of what has been called "severe mood dysregulation" (SMD)—characterized by chronic irritability and a tendency to respond to frustration in developmentally inappropriate ways—receive a diagnosis of bipolar disorder even though they lack the episodes of mania associated with that condition. 

The term "severe mood dysregulation” was developed by Ellen Leibenluft, M.D., a co-author of the new study, and colleagues at NIMH. Criteria for the syndrome are being tested in field trials for *DSM-5*.

Read more about this syndrome and its possible inclusion in *DSM-5* in *Psychiatric News* at  [http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/46/2/4.1.full](http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/46/2/4.1.full) .  

(Image: Shutterstock)

[bipolar disorder](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/bipolar-disorder), [child psychiatry](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/child-psychiatry), [severe mood dysregulation](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/severe-mood-dysregulation)

## Related posts

[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/alcohol_iStock-638522480-Jun-24-2025-05-40-14-2680-PM.jpg?height=200&name=alcohol_iStock-638522480-Jun-24-2025-05-40-14-2680-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2020/09/discrimination-may-increase-risk-of.html)

[race](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/race), [AUD](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/aud), [alcohol use disorder](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/alcohol-use-disorder), [discrimination](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/discrimination), [ethnicity](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/ethnicity), [Drug and Alcohol Dependence](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/drug-and-alcohol-dependence)

## [Discrimination May Increase Risk of Severe Alcohol Use in Minorities](https://alert.psychnews.org/2020/09/discrimination-may-increase-risk-of.html)

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 

 9/1/20 12:00 AM

Racial and ethnic discrimination may increase the risk that members of minority groups will...

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2020/09/discrimination-may-increase-risk-of.html)

[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_101982913-Jun-24-2025-06-12-16-5762-PM.jpg?height=200&name=shutterstock_101982913-Jun-24-2025-06-12-16-5762-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/07/trauma-ptsd-common-in-patients-with.html)

[PTSD](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/ptsd), [serious mental illness](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/serious-mental-illness)

## [Trauma, PTSD Common in Patients With Severe Mental Disorders](https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/07/trauma-ptsd-common-in-patients-with.html)

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 

 7/27/12 12:00 AM

Experiencing traumatic experiences and developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are more...

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/07/trauma-ptsd-common-in-patients-with.html)

[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/light_therapy_iStock-462294507-Jun-24-2025-03-41-45-2610-PM.jpg?height=200&name=light_therapy_iStock-462294507-Jun-24-2025-03-41-45-2610-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2021/04/bipolar-ii-disorder-associated-with.html)

[mood disorders](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/mood-disorders), [major depression](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/major-depression), [Heon-Jeong Lee](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/heon-jeong-lee), [bipolar II disorder](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/bipolar-ii-disorder), [seasonal affective disorder](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/seasonal-affective-disorder), [bipolar I disorder](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/bipolar-i-disorder)

## [Bipolar II Disorder Associated With Higher Prevalence of Seasonal Affective Disorder](https://alert.psychnews.org/2021/04/bipolar-ii-disorder-associated-with.html)

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 

 6/24/24 11:16 AM

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2021/04/bipolar-ii-disorder-associated-with.html)

```json
{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "Psychiatric News Alert",
    "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2025-06-24T16:48:49.480Z",
  "datePublished" : "2011-08-26T04:00:00.000Z",
  "headline" : "Psych News Alert: Brain Differences Seen in Children Who Experience Severe Irritability",
  "image" : [ "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_36162220-Jun-24-2025-04-44-12-3680-PM.jpg" ],
  "mainEntityOfPage" : {
    "@id" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/08/brain-differences-seen-in-children-who.html",
    "@type" : "WebPage"
  },
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/PN-Blue-Box.jpg"
    }
  }
}
```