Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Structural protein may be new target for diagnosis, treatment of depression

Scientists have zeroed in on a structural protein as a new target for the diagnosis and treatment of depression, according to research recently published in JNeurosci.

9 Apr 2020

Benefits of marijuana for pain relief are not clear-cut, study suggests

Medical marijuana users who say they have high levels of pain are more likely than those with low pain to say they use cannabis three or more times a day, a new study finds.

8 Apr 2020

Injury risk higher in children of parents with mental illness

Children of parents suffering from mental health problems (most notably depression and substance abuse) are at higher risk of injuries in comparison to other children, as reported in a new study from Karolinska Institute in Sweden published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

8 Apr 2020

Risk of depression increases with higher weight, shows study

In an analysis of primary care records of 519,513 UK adults who were overweight or obese between 2000-2016 and followed up until 2019, the incidence of new cases of depression was 92 per 10,000 people per year. The risk of depression also rose with higher weight, according to the Obesity analysis.

8 Apr 2020

Scientists urge public to assess mental health impact of COVID-19 pandemic

Scientists are appealing to the public for help to assess the mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the aim to inform and improve future policies concerning pandemics.

8 Apr 2020

Understanding early visual processing steps could have implications for schizophrenia, ADHD

Researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI) have defined a crucial window of time that mice need to key in on visual events.

8 Apr 2020

Study sheds light on genetic triggers that lead to autism, schizophrenia later in life

From early prenatal development through childhood, the prefrontal cortex of the human brain undergoes an avalanche of developmental activity.

8 Apr 2020

Suicide attempt survivors found to be less sensitive to bodily signals

People who have survived a suicide attempt are less sensitive to bodily signals related to their heart and breath, and have a higher tolerance for pain, suggest new findings published today in eLife.

7 Apr 2020

Depressive disorders in patients with HIV/AIDS often go unrecognized or untreated

People living with HIV/AIDS are at increased risk of depressive disorders. But all too often, these conditions go unrecognized or untreated, suggests a literature review in the May/June issue of Harvard Review of Psychiatry.

7 Apr 2020

'Housing Prescription as Health Care' program associated with improved family health

Results of a study show that enrollment in a program that supports housing and health needs of medically complex families was associated with improved child health and parent mental health within six months.

7 Apr 2020

TMS shows promise as treatment for adults with both depression and autism

In a pilot study in adults with autism and depression, transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS, was effective in reducing depressive symptoms and had some effects on autistic symptoms, report researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina in Autism Research.

7 Apr 2020

To curb coronavirus, What’s behind the wearing of a mask?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday recommended wearing cloth face masks when going out, especially to places like grocery stores and pharmacies.

7 Apr 2020

Study reveals how serotonin balances communication within the brain

Our brain is steadily engaged in soliloquies. These internal communications are usually also bombarded with external sensory events.

7 Apr 2020

New form of magnetic brain stimulation relieves symptoms of severe depression

A new form of magnetic brain stimulation rapidly relieved symptoms of severe depression in 90% of participants in a small study conducted by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

7 Apr 2020

Experts highlight the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on patients with Parkinson’s disease

While much attention has focused on the potential for severe respiratory complications and unfavorable outcomes from the COVID-19 pandemic among patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), the impact extends beyond these threats.

5 Apr 2020

A healthcare 'passport' beneficial for the mental health of veterans

A healthcare 'passport' to access NHS and other wellbeing services has been beneficial for the mental health of veterans and provides them with a sense of identity, according to research published in the BMJ Military Health.

3 Apr 2020

Study shows how Toxoplasma infection causes seizures, psychiatric illness for some

Think about traffic flow in a city - there are stop signs, one-way streets, and traffic lights to organize movement across a widespread network. Now, imagine what would happen if you removed some of the traffic signals.

2 Apr 2020

Research shows entire brain responds to the gut through neuronal connections

You know that feeling in your gut? We think of it as an innate intuition that sparks deep in the belly and helps guide our actions, if we let it. It's also a metaphor for what scientists call the "gut-brain axis," a biological reality in which the gut and its microbial inhabitants send signals to the brain, and vice versa.

2 Apr 2020

Public health interventions will drive economic recovery from COVID-19

A major new study titled “Pandemics Depress the Economy, Public Health Interventions Do Not: Evidence from the 1918 Flu,” by MIT economist Emil Verner and others, and published as a working paper in the Social Science Research Network, puts the role of public health measures and financial welfare during public health crises into perspective.

2 Apr 2020

Magnetic stimulation of rectal nerves could help treat fecal incontinence

An ongoing study by the Medical College of Georgia on the role of magnetic stimulation of the rectal nerves to achieve better bowel control in patients with fecal incontinence is showing early promise. The technique is called translumbosacral neuromodulation therapy, or TNT.

2 Apr 2020