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Ketogenic diet protects young rats from effects of prenatal stress

Researchers have shown that young rats fed a ketogenic diet – a diet with high fat and low carbohydrates – are protected from the lasting experience of pre-natal stress.

12 Oct 2025

Mindfulness meditation may help treat people with depression and Internet gaming disorder

Mindfulness meditation may help people struggling with concurrent depression and Internet gaming disorder, according to a study. Guang-Heng Dong and colleagues treated 59 people with depression and Internet gaming disorder (IGD)-which is characterized by excessive and dysregulated video game playing.

23 Sep 2025

Uncovering the science behind musical anhedonia

Ten years ago, researchers discovered a small group of people who derive no pleasure from music despite having normal hearing and the ability to enjoy other experiences or stimuli.

7 Aug 2025

Targeting vasopressin neurons alleviates postpartum depression

Researchers at Nanjing University's School of Life Sciences, in collaboration with colleagues from Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and the Peng Cheng Laboratory, have identified a specific brain circuit that eases depressive-like behaviors in a mouse model of postpartum depression, providing a promising target for future treatments. This work addresses how sudden drops in estrogen after childbirth can trigger mood disturbances.

15 Jul 2025

Theater activities enhance emotional well-being in Parkinson’s patients

A research team at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), working with the Hospital Sant Pau in Barcelona, has shown that theatre can improve the emotional well-being of people with Parkinson's disease.

2 Jul 2025

Mount Sinai researchers explore new depression treatment targeting brain’s potassium channels

A mechanism involving potassium channels in the brain that control brain cell activity could provide a new and fundamentally different way of treating depression symptoms in adults with major depressive disorder, according to two complementary papers published recently by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

21 May 2025

Ultra-processed foods increase risk of anxiety and depression, study shows

A large UK Biobank study linked ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption to increased risks of anxiety, depression, substance use disorder, and other mental health outcomes. A metabolomic signature associated with UPF intake partially mediated these relationships, especially in adults under 60.

5 May 2025

Brain signals involved in reward learning may hold key to personalized depression treatments

In a study in the Journal of Affective Disorders, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute scientists Pearl Chiu and Brooks Casas investigate how brain signals involved in reward learning might help personalize depression treatment.

22 Jan 2025

Anhedonia: The hidden psychological toll of deep endometriosis

Nearly 30% of women with deep endometriosis experience reduced pleasure sensitivity (anhedonia), linked to chronic pelvic pain, highlighting overlooked psychological consequences of this condition.

6 Jan 2025

Chemogenetic activation reveals male-female differences in stress resistance neural circuits

Subtle activation of a small subset of neurons in one region of the brain can make male mice resilient to, and even reverse, the detrimental effects of chronic stress. The same is true for female mice, but in a totally different region of the brain.

19 Dec 2024

Scientists aim to identify the most effective TBS protocols for treating schizophrenia

Schizophrenia, which is characterized by positive symptoms (e.g., hallucinations and delusions), negative symptoms (diminished emotional expressions or avolition), and cognitive impairments (attention deficits and poor learning skills), is a serious mental health condition that affects how individuals think, behave, and perceive the world.

3 Dec 2024

Pet ownership did not improve mental health symptoms during COVID-19 pandemic

Researchers assess the relationship between pet ownership during the COVID-19 pandemic and mental health outcomes.

12 Sep 2024

Depression has a consistent mark in the brain even when symptoms are absent

Persistent salience network growth in depression highlights neurobiological changes, offering potential insights into mood-state shifts and treatment responses.

6 Sep 2024

Brain scans reveal hidden clues to depression susceptibility

By repeatedly scanning the brains of a small group of patients for a year and a half, Weill Cornell Medicine researchers have identified a distinct pattern of neuronal interactions that appears to predispose some people to developing depression.

4 Sep 2024

Novel insights into how exercise functions as an antidepressant

Researchers from University College London propose a novel framework linking reduced inflammation and boosted dopamine transmission through exercise to alleviate depressive symptoms.

18 Jul 2024

Study reveals altered neural signature in patients with depression

As parents, teachers and pet owners can attest, rewards play a huge role in shaping behaviors in humans and animals.

15 Jul 2024

Study sheds light on the intricate relationship between depression and brain activity

A significant new study published in the Cyborg Bionic Systems journal by Fanli Kong and colleagues sheds light on the intricate relationship between depression and brain activity, particularly focusing on the basolateral amygdala (BLA) in rats.

26 Jun 2024