Neurodevelopmental pathways in bipolar disorder

•Neurodevelopmental pathways are implicated in the pathophysiology of several mental disorders.•Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (BD) share several genetic and pathophysiological mechanisms.•A comprehensive review of evidence linking BD to neurodevelopmental abnormalities is provided.•Overall schizophrenia has been more consistently associated with neurodevelopmental aberrations than BD.•However, a subset of individuals with BD may exhibit dysfunctional neurodevelopmental pathways.