Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

EPFL researchers identify social rank as determining factor for vulnerability to stress

Stress is a major risk factor for a range of psychopathologies. However, stress does not affect everyone equally: in the face of sustained adversity, some people develop depression symptoms while others adapt and remain resilient.

13 Jul 2017

Scientists find greater cortical thickness in the brains of elderly female yoga practitioners

Scientists in Brazil have imaged elderly female yoga practitioners' brains and found they have greater cortical thickness in the left prefrontal cortex, in brain areas associated with cognitive functions like attention and memory.

13 Jul 2017

Study reveals health outcomes of children conceived using donor sperm

Children conceived using donor sperm have similar health and well-being to the general population, according to a study published in Reproductive BioMedicine Online.

13 Jul 2017

In Texas, people with mental illness find work helping peers

Recovery coaches and peer mentors — known in Alcoholics Anonymous as “sponsors” — have for decades helped those addicted to alcohol or drugs.

13 Jul 2017

Traumatic childhood can lead to higher levels of health service use throughout adult life

Experiencing physical, sexual or emotional abuse as a child, or other stresses such as living in a household affected by domestic violence, substance abuse or mental illness, can lead to higher levels of health service use throughout adulthood.

13 Jul 2017

High maternal pre-pregnancy BMI linked to behavioral problems in boys

Maternal obesity and child neurodevelopmental problems have both increased in the U.S. and scientists have suggested a possible link.

13 Jul 2017

Schizophrenia patients have impaired social episodic memory in all phases of illness

People with schizophrenia have trouble remembering the details of social interactions in all phases of the illness, UCLA researchers report. However, in the early stages of schizophrenia, patients can remember more about these interactions if given hints about context. This finding suggests a potential strategy for memory training.

13 Jul 2017

ADHD medicines linked to lower risk for substance use problems in adolescents, adults

The use of medication to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is linked to significantly lower risk for substance use problems in adolescents and adults with ADHD, according to a study led by researchers at Indiana University.

12 Jul 2017

Genetics plays major role in how infants visually explore social world, twin study reveals

New research has uncovered compelling evidence that genetics plays a major role in how children look at the world and whether they have a preference for gazing at people's eyes and faces or at objects.

12 Jul 2017

LSE review: Household income linked to children's outcomes

Poorer children have worse cognitive, social-behavioural and health outcomes because they are poor, and not just because poverty is correlated with other household and parental characteristics, according to a new report from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

12 Jul 2017

Internet-connected smart hearing aid: a life changing solution?

Oticon Opn is a hearing aid that allows connection to a smartphone and supports all the internet-enabled connectivity that you have on the internet that smart devices support. We have specifically chosen a web-based community called “If This Then That” (IFTTT) because it is a relatively very easy to use third party service that is supported by a lot of the large global device manufacturers.

12 Jul 2017

Social and emotional learning programs continue to benefit children years later

Social and emotional learning programs for youth not only immediately improve mental health, social skills, and learning outcomes but also continue to benefit children years later, according to new research from UBC, University of Illinois at Chicago and Loyola University.

12 Jul 2017

Older adults receive more caregiver support at the end of life

Dying adults in the United States have 2.5 people assisting them, on average, according to a new study. Yet those caring for adults at the end-of-life, especially spouses, are likely to report that they have no one assisting them and no time for themselves.

11 Jul 2017

Internal clock ticks irregularly in patients with schizophrenia

Persons suffering from schizophrenia have a different perception of time than healthy individuals. There is far more variation in the way that a time interval is perceived by people with schizophrenic disorders than by those who do not have the condition.

11 Jul 2017