Anhedonia News and Research

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Randomized controlled trial introduces new psychotherapeutic approach to schizophrenia

A randomized controlled trial published in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics introduces a new psychotherapeutic approach to schizophrenia, based on psychological well-being.

31 May 2019

Scientists identify new therapeutic target for depression

Depression is one of the most widespread disorders that affects society, according to the World Health Organization. In fact, it is estimated that 4 million people are affected in Spain.

22 May 2019

Study finds sex differences in inflammation-induced anhedonia

Inflammation reduces the brain's response to rewards in women, but not in men, according to a new study in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, published by Elsevier.

15 May 2019

SLU researcher wins NIH grant to identify risk factors for opioid-related depression

A Saint Louis University researcher has received a grant to study the pathways from chronic prescription opioid use to new onset mood disorder.

29 Apr 2019

FDA approves first drug for treatment of postpartum depression in adult women

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Zulresso (brexanolone) injection for intravenous use for the treatment of postpartum depression in adult women. This is the first drug approved by the FDA specifically for PPD.

20 Mar 2019

Study sheds light on brain function associated with anhedonia

Researchers have identified changes in brain connectivity and brain activity during rest and reward anticipation in children with anhedonia, a condition where people lose interest and pleasure in activities they used to enjoy.

13 Mar 2019

Activating gene that helps excite neurons reverses depression in male mice

Directly activating a gene important to exciting our excitatory neurons and associated with major depression may help turn around classic symptoms like social isolation and loss of interest, at least for males, scientists report.

18 Feb 2019

Obsessive-compulsive disorder may protect individuals from obesity

A new study led by Amitai Abramovitch, assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Texas State University, shows that individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are significantly less likely to become overweight or obese.

12 Dec 2018

Scientists identify clues to brain changes in depression

In new pre-clinical research, scientists at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, led by Scott Thompson, PhD, Professor of Physiology, have identified changes in brain activity linked to the pleasure and reward system.

28 Nov 2018

New reviews analyze symptom stability over the course of psychiatric disorders

In patients with psychiatric disorders, stability of symptoms has important implications for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment.

31 Oct 2018

Sodium nitroprusside treatment prevents schizophrenia symptoms in animal model

Researchers at the Federal University of São Paulo in Brazil have tested a treatment with sodium nitroprusside in a strain of rats that spontaneously develop some of the symptoms associated with schizophrenia.

12 Jul 2018

Worsening of anxiety symptoms may be early indicator of Alzheimer's disease

A new study suggests an association between elevated amyloid beta levels and the worsening of anxiety symptoms. The findings support the hypothesis that neuropsychiatric symptoms could represent the early manifestation of Alzheimer's disease in older adults.

12 Jan 2018

New research reveals causes of weight gain after deep brain stimulation in Parkinsonian patients

It was already known that people affected by Parkinson's disease, when subjected to deep brain stimulation, gained weight, but it was less clear why that was so. Thanks to new research by the International School for Advanced Studies - SISSA in Trieste, it has been realized that the weight gain after implant has a multifactorial origin.

5 May 2017

People with musical anhedonia show reduced functional connectivity between cortical regions

Have you ever met someone who just wasn't into music? They may have a condition called specific musical anhedonia, which affects three-to-five per cent of the population.

4 Jan 2017

New study explains brain mechanisms linked to lack of sensitivity to music

Researchers from the Cognition and Cerebral Plasticity group of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute and the University of Barcelona, in collaboration with researchers from the University of McGill, have published a new study in which brain mechanisms associated to the lack of sensitivity to music are explained.

17 Nov 2016

Regular marijuana use impacts the brain's natural response to rewards

Most people would get a little 'rush' out of the idea that they're about to win some money.

6 Jul 2016

Study finds decreased habenula activity in people with depression

A region of the brain that responds to bad experiences has the opposite reaction to expectations of aversive events in people with depression compared to healthy adults, finds a new UCL study funded by the Medical Research Council.

31 May 2016

Study provides new insight into how drug addicts' brains wired differently

A study out today provides new insight into how the brains of drug addicts may be wired differently. The findings, which appear in the journal Psychopharmacology, show that while drug users have very strong motivation to seek out "rewards," they exhibit an impaired ability to adjust their behavior and are less fulfilled once they have achieved what they desire.

11 Feb 2016

Inflammation associated with elevated glutamate in the brain could guide depression treatments

Psychiatrists investigating depression have been energized in recent years by reports of rapid, successful treatment with drugs that interfere with the brain chemical glutamate, such as the anesthetic ketamine.

13 Jan 2016

Brain imaging reveals distinctive aspects of high-inflammation depression

About one third of people with depression have high levels of inflammation markers in their blood. New research indicates that persistent inflammation affects the brain in ways that are connected with stubborn symptoms of depression, such as anhedonia, the inability to experience pleasure.

21 Nov 2015