Psychosis News and Research

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Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality". People suffering from psychosis are said to be ''psychotic.''

Adolescents with higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids less likely to develop psychotic disorder

New research has found that adolescents with higher levels of an omega-3 fatty acid in their blood were less likely to develop psychotic disorder in early adulthood, suggesting that it may have a potential preventative effect of reducing the risk of psychosis.

1 Jun 2021

Adults with schizophrenia have increased risk of dying from suicide

Adults with schizophrenia have an elevated risk of dying from suicide. Yet there's only limited understanding of when and why people with schizophrenia die of suicide --in part because research studies have looked at relatively small groups of patients.

27 May 2021

Medications commonly prescribed for schizophrenia linked to cognitive impairment

Writing in the May 14, 2021 issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry, a multi-institution team of scientists led by researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine report that medications commonly prescribed to reduce the severity of physical and mental health symptoms associated with schizophrenia may have a cumulative effect of worsening cognitive function in patients.

18 May 2021

Brain thinning in youth associated with psychosis

Subtle differences in the shape of the brain that are present in adolescence are associated with the development of psychosis, according to an international team led by neuroscientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Maastricht University in the Netherlands.

5 May 2021

Partners to people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder also meet diagnostic criteria for mental disorder

Almost half of the parents who have children together with a parent with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, are themselves burdened by psychological issues. This can affect family life and the children. This is shown in the research result from the major Danish psychiatry project iPSYCH.

4 May 2021

Bath scientists receive £1.3 million grant to develop a portable spice-detection device

University of Bath scientists have been awarded a research grant of £1.3 million to develop a portable device to detect the street drug ‘spice’ on the spot. They expect the new technology to be ready for use in clinical settings, prisons and across police services within three years.

22 Apr 2021

Cannabis users genetically predisposed to schizophrenia may have higher risk for psychosis

It has been long been known that cannabis users develop psychosis more often than non-users, but what is still not fully clear is whether cannabis actually causes psychosis and, if so, who is most at risk.

13 Apr 2021

Inhibition of nsp14 methyltransferase as a potential antiviral target for SARS-CoV-2

Beyond vaccination, the broad-spectrum antiviral medication remdesivir has robust clinical evidence and is known as the best antiviral treatment to reduce severe COVID-19 infection in hospitalized patients. Research led by John F.X. Diffley of the Chromosome Replication Laboratory suggests a potential therapeutic target for treatment development is the viral RNA cap methyltransferases, essential for viral protein translation and immune evasion.

13 Apr 2021

Antipsychotics could have a protective impact against SARS-CoV-2

Two studies led by the Mental Health Unit of the Virgen del Rocio University Hospital and involving researchers from the US conclude that antipsychotic drugs could have a protective effect against SARS-CoV-2. For this reason, patients treated with these drugs have a lower risk of becoming infected or suffer a milder form of the disease if they do become infected.

9 Apr 2021

SlowMo therapy helps treat paranoid thoughts in people experiencing psychosis

A new clinical trial from King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, & Neuroscience, in collaboration with Oxford University, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Sussex University, and Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has established an innovative therapy as an effective means of treating paranoid thoughts in people experiencing psychosis.

7 Apr 2021

Mice experiencing hallucination-like events provide clues to understand psychosis

The humble lab mouse has provided invaluable clues to understanding diseases ranging from cancer to diabetes to COVID-19. But when it comes to psychiatric conditions, the lab mouse has been sidelined, its rodent mind considered too different from that of humans to provide much insight into mental illness.

1 Apr 2021

Disrupted biochemical pathway can lead to the brain changes characteristic of bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder affects millions of Americans, causing dramatic swings in mood and, in some people, additional effects such as memory problems.

1 Apr 2021

Study finds higher psychotic symptoms in young 'night owls' at risk of psychosis

Young people at ultra-high risk of developing psychosis have significantly higher psychotic symptoms if they are an evening person, researchers at Orygen, Australia's centre of excellence in youth mental health, have found.

10 Mar 2021

Real-time fMRI neurofeedback offers a novel treatment method for psychiatric illness

In recent years, researchers have begun using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) not just for better understanding the neural bases of psychiatric illness, but also for experimental treatment of depression, ADHD, anxiety, PTSD, substance use disorder, and schizophrenia with a technique called real-time fMRI neurofeedback.

5 Mar 2021

Study reveals information about risk genes in schizophrenia

Dr. Felix-Martin Werner, working at the Euro Academy Pößneck in Germany and Prof. Rafael Coveñas, working at the Institute of Neurosciences of Castilla and León, Salamanca in Spain, have been working on neurological and psychiatric disease for over ten years.

26 Feb 2021

Neuroinvasiveness of SARS-CoV-2 shown by viral RNA and inflammation in the brain

A new study describes the results of a macaque study that showed the development of neurological features of inflammation, following infection by SARS-CoV-2.

25 Feb 2021

Study investigates characteristics of high utilizers for psychiatric hospital services

Dropping out of high school, having schizophrenia, or being diagnosed with a co-occurring personality disorder increases the likelihood of someone becoming a "high utilizer" of inpatient psychiatric hospital services, according to a new study by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston .

24 Feb 2021

MSK researchers report an underlying cause of COVID brain

One of the dozens of unusual symptoms that have emerged in COVID-19 patients is a condition that's informally called "COVID brain" or "brain fog."

9 Feb 2021

Using machine learning to identify patients with a mix of psychotic and depressive symptoms

A way of using machine learning to more accurately identify patients with a mix of psychotic and depressive symptoms has been developed by researchers at the University of Birmingham.

8 Feb 2021

UiB professor receives 12 million NOK to study the relation between psychosis and criminal insanity

How and why does psychosis play a role when defining someone as criminally insane and lacking capacity for responsible action? Professor Linda Gröning at The Faculty of Law has been given 12 million NOK from The Research Council of Norway to learn more about the nuances of this question.

6 Feb 2021