Linke JO, Stavish C, Adleman NE, et al. - In view of the proposed association of bipolar disorder (BD) and familial risk for BD with aberrant white matter (WM) microstructure in the corpus callosum and fronto-limbic pathways, researchers sought to assess if WM alterations represent a trait, disease or resilience marker. For this work, they compared youth at risk for BD (n = 36 first-degree relatives, REL) to youth with BD (n = 36) and healthy volunteers (n = 36, HV) using diffusion tensor imaging. WM microstructure did not differ between individuals with BD and REL; compared with HV, these individuals showed similar aberrations in the superior corona radiata (SCR)/ corticospinal tract (CST) and the body of the corpus callosum. WM microstructure of the anterior CC showed lower age-related in-creases in BD compared with REL and HV. Besides, individuals with BD and REL exhibited in-creased difficulties in emotion regulation, which were correlated with the microstructure of the anterior thalamic radiation. Findings suggest a possible value of alterations in the SCR/ CST and the body of the corpus callosum as a trait marker of BD but indicate variances in other WM tracts as possibly a disease state marker. In addition, findings establish the role of aberrant developmental trajectories of WM microstructure in the risk architecture of BD. Ultimately, this work exhibits the importance of WM microstructure for difficulties in emotion regulation - a core characteristic of BD.