Psychiatry News and Research

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Psychiatry is the treatment, study and prevention of mental disorders.

NRG1 gene plays an important role in cannabis dependence

A paper by Shizhong Han and colleagues in the current issue of Biological Psychiatry implicates a new gene in the risk for cannabis dependence. This gene, NRG1, codes for the ErbB4 receptor, a protein implicated in synaptic development and function.

12 Oct 2012

Factors linked to self-harm in schizophrenia identified

Polysubstance abuse and a high premorbid IQ are significantly associated with self-harm in patients with schizophrenia, UK researchers report.

11 Oct 2012

Antioxidant defense reduced in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder

Results from a Tunisian study suggest that the antioxidant defense system is altered in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

11 Oct 2012

Heart drug could ease rare muscle disorder

The anti-arrhythmic drug mexiletine may improve symptoms in patients with nondystrophic myotonias, shows a small randomized trial published in JAMA.

11 Oct 2012

Enrollment complete in Euthymics’ amitifadine phase 2b/3a trial for major depressive disorder

Euthymics Bioscience, Inc. today announced completion of enrollment in the advanced clinical study of its lead product candidate amitifadine (formerly called EB-1010), a novel serotonin-preferring triple reuptake inhibitor for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD).

11 Oct 2012

Novel neuroimaging technique reveals evidence of cocaine-induced cerebral microischemia

Researchers from the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Stony Brook University have developed a high-resolution, 3D optical Doppler imaging tomography technique that captures the effects of cocaine restricting the blood supply in vessels - including small capillaries - of the brain.

11 Oct 2012

Bad news articles increase women's sensitivity to stressful situations

Bad news articles in the media increase women's sensitivity to stressful situations, but do not have a similar effect on men, according to a study undertaken by University of Montreal researchers at the Centre for Studies on Human Stress of Louis-H. Lafontaine Hospital.

11 Oct 2012

Addiction and mental health burden higher than all cancers in Ontario

Mental illnesses and addictions take more of a toll on the health of Ontarians than cancer or infectious diseases, according to a new report by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and Public Health Ontario - yet this burden could be reduced with treatment, say scientists from Canada's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

11 Oct 2012

TSRI scientists identify new gene variants closely associated with bipolar disorder

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have identified small variations in a number of genes that are closely linked to an increased risk of bipolar disorder, a mental illness that affects nearly six million Americans, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

11 Oct 2012

Nicotine dependence linked to symptom severity in schizophrenia

Nicotine dependence is associated with increased symptom severity in patients with schizophrenia, UK study results show.

10 Oct 2012

Roitt's Essential Immunology receives BMA Book of the Year Award

John Wiley & Sons, Inc., today announced that Roitt's Essential Immunology, 12th Edition, has won the prestigious British Medical Association (BMA) Book of the Year Award.

10 Oct 2012

Navigating the Labyrinth of Traumatic Brain Injury to Discover a Secondary Neurological Condition

Working with individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) every day, I see the debilitating effects and long-term struggles firsthand.

9 Oct 2012

BDNF deletion plays a critical role in psychiatric disease and obesity

McGill researchers have identified a small region in the genome that conclusively plays a role in the development of psychiatric disease and obesity. The key lies in the genomic deletion of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, a nervous system growth factor that plays a critical role in brain development.

9 Oct 2012

Low-dose aspirin may protect against cognitive decline in elderly women

Elderly women at risk for cardiovascular events who take low-dose acetylsalic acid exhibit less cognitive decline on the Mini Mental State Examination than their peers who do not take the drug, report researchers.

8 Oct 2012

Researchers identify mechanism that protects from developing uncontrollable fear

Researchers from the University of Exeter Medical School have for the first time identified the mechanism that protects us from developing uncontrollable fear.

6 Oct 2012

Public health significance and societal consequences of pathological gambling

The panel discussion on the occasion of the 25th ECNP Congress in Vienna, Austria, will focus not only on medical issues of pathological gambling, but also on its public health significance and societal consequences.

6 Oct 2012

DPP-inhibitors reduce cardiovascular events in diabetes patients

Type 2 diabetes patients who are treated with dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors have a significantly reduced risk for cardiovascular events, particularly myocardial infarction, compared with their peers who take placebo or other drugs, results of a meta-analysis show.

5 Oct 2012