Neuropsychopharmacology News and Research

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Study confirms how profoundly the brain is affected by major depression

Scientists have found that the more severely patients have been hit by depression across their lifespan, the less they react emotionally to negative faces during current depression.

4 Oct 2021

Specific protein can be used as a brain marker to indicate whether emotional memories can be changed

Researchers have discovered that a particular protein can be used as a brain marker to indicate whether emotional memories can be changed or forgotten.

3 Oct 2021

Depressed adolescents' brains give a muted reaction to distressing images, research finds

Scientists have measured brain activity in young people with and without depression, and found that the brains of depressed adolescents give a muted reaction to distressing images.

3 Oct 2021

Study finds genetic link between driving convictions, accidents and everyday behavior

A new long-term psychological study of drivers has found an association between driving convictions, accidents and everyday behavior such as eating junk food or alcohol consumption.

3 Oct 2021

Study suggests a balanced approach to developing safer opioid analgesics

Opioids are powerful painkillers but their use is hindered because patients become tolerant to them, requiring higher and higher doses, and overdoses can cause respiratory depression and death.

24 Aug 2021

NIH leaders address how using appropriate language can reduce mental health and addiction stigma

In a perspective published in Neuropsychopharmacology, leaders from the National Institutes of Health address how using appropriate language to describe mental illness and addiction can help to reduce stigma and improve how people with these conditions are treated in health care settings and throughout society.

19 Jul 2021

Psychiatric patients have higher odds of hospitalization and death following COVID-19

In the largest systematic review and meta-analysis to date on COVID-19 outcomes in individuals with psychiatric disorders, the odds of dying or being hospitalized following COVID-19 infection were determined to be twice as high in comparison to persons without mental disorders.

16 Jul 2021

Researchers study sex-specific gene mutation linked to autism

After reviewing a database of gene mutations in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a team of Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) researchers decided to study a specific gene mutation that likely caused ASD in a girl.

6 May 2021

Antidepressant exposure in the womb may increase offspring's risk of affective disorders

Major depressive disorder is highly prevalent, with one in five people experiencing an episode at some point in their life, and is almost twice as common in women than in men.

12 Apr 2021

UTEP professor's discovery could lead to a way to inhibit overeating

Science is a step closer to a new response to obesity, thanks in part to a study conducted by a team that included Sergio Iñiguez, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at The University of Texas at El Paso.

15 Feb 2021

Differences in gene readouts may shed light on mental disorders

A new study suggests that differences in the expression of gene transcripts - readouts copied from DNA that help maintain and build our cells - may hold the key to understanding how mental disorders with shared genetic risk factors result in different patterns of onset, symptoms, course of illness, and treatment responses

8 Feb 2021

Stem cell engineering used to identify gene signaling pathway linked to schizophrenia

Using human-induced pluripotent stem cells engineered from a single family's blood samples, a gene signaling pathway linked to a higher risk for developing schizophrenia was discovered by scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

21 Dec 2020

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on those with OCDs

Researchers from the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf and University Hospital, Munich in Germany, have reported their findings on the course of obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCDs) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

19 Nov 2020

Psilocybin may be effective in patients suffering from major depression

In a small study of adults with major depression, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report that two doses of the psychedelic substance psilocybin, given with supportive psychotherapy, produced rapid and large reductions in depressive symptoms, with most participants showing improvement and half of study participants achieving remission through the four-week follow-up.

4 Nov 2020

Interaction between PTSD and klotho gene may cause premature aging in the brain

Study Finds PTSD Interacts With Klotho Gene, May Cause Premature Aging In The Brain

27 Oct 2020

New insights into the relationship between stress and pain following TBI

Traumatic brain injury is a leading cause of death and disability. Post-injury distress is common, with many individuals experiencing chronic anxiety and depressive symptoms as well as chronic pain.

18 Aug 2020

Researchers study about the science behind staying motivated

There is no question that motivation is one of the hardest and yet important factors in life. It's the difference between success and failure, goal-setting and aimlessness, well-being and unhappiness. And yet, why is it so hard to get motivated - or even if we do, to keep it up?

13 Aug 2020