Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Implantable brain device shows promising results in animal study

An implantable brain device that literally melts away at a pre-determined rate minimizes injury to tissue normally associated with standard electrode implantation, according to research led by a team from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

6 May 2016

Formal mental health therapies offer little relief from postpartum depression for low-income mothers of color

Health care providers and human service agencies often manage postpartum depression with formal mental health treatments and antidepressant therapies, but for new, low-income mothers of color these interventions often provide little relief from the mood disorder that sometimes follows childbirth, according to a new study led by a University at Buffalo researcher.

5 May 2016

New study finds genetic overlap between bipolar disorder and autism

A new study suggests there may be an overlap between rare genetic variations linked to bipolar disorder (BD) and those implicated in schizophrenia and autism.

5 May 2016

Promising specialty medical home approach to patient-centered, cost-effective care for IBD patients

A specialty medical home--providing expert medical care coordinated with attention to social support and mental health--is a promising new approach to patient-centered, cost-effective care for patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, according to a special "Future Directions" paper in the May issue of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, official journal of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

5 May 2016

Candida yeast infections more common in men with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder

In a study prompted in part by suggestions from people with mental illness, Johns Hopkins researchers found that a history of Candida yeast infections was more common in a group of men with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder than in those without these disorders, and that women with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder who tested positive for Candida performed worse on a standard memory test than women with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder who had no evidence of past infection.

4 May 2016

High prevalence of depression alongside COPD can impact overall health, treatment effectiveness

Although there have been discussions about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a condition impacting 24 million Americans, and depression, there has been little research showing the impact depression has on patients with COPD. Two studies published in the April issue of the journal CHEST found one in four patients with COPD suffer from depressive symptoms, and if not treated, those symptoms can have a negative effect on their overall health and treatment effectiveness.

4 May 2016

Depression, anxiety co-occur in bipolar disorder patients following mania

Adults with bipolar disorder are just as likely to develop anxiety as depression following an episode of mania, according to data from a national survey of more than 34,000 adults. This finding, published today in Molecular Psychiatry, may expand our understanding of bipolar disorder to include anxiety.

4 May 2016

Influence of psychiatric comorbidities on all-cause readmissions following elective spine surgery

Winner of the Robert Florin Resident Award, Owoicho Adogwa, MD, presented his research, Association Between Baseline Affective Disorders and 30-day Readmission Rates in Patients Undergoing Elective Spine Surgery, during the 2016 American Association of Neurological Surgeons Annual Scientific Meeting.

3 May 2016

High-intensity exercise, group activity reduce depression among older dementia patients

Both a high-intensity functional exercise programme and a non-exercise group activity, conducted among older care facility residents with dementia, reduced high levels of depressive symptoms. However, exercise had no superior effect on depression, according to a dissertation from Umea University.

3 May 2016

New study shows women susceptible to pain-relieving placebo effect of vasopressin

A new study in the current issue of Biological Psychiatry suggests that women are particularly susceptible to the pain-relieving placebo effect of vasopressin.

3 May 2016

Yoga, aquatic exercise have positive influence on multiple sclerosis symptoms

Exercise can have a positive influence on certain symptoms of multiple sclerosis: Patients who do yoga and aquatic exercise suffer less from fatigue, depression and paresthesia, as reported by researchers from the University of Basel and the Psychiatric University Clinics Basel in a joint study with colleagues in Iran.

3 May 2016

Brain receptor that initiates adolescent synaptic pruning appears to go awry in autism, schizophrenia

Research led by SUNY Downstate Medical Center has identified a brain receptor that appears to initiate adolescent synaptic pruning, a process believed necessary for learning, but one that appears to go awry in both autism and schizophrenia.

3 May 2016

Study shows cannabinoid type 2 receptor plays vital role in signal processing of the brain

The cannabinoid type 2 receptor - also called "CB2 receptor" - is a special membrane protein. Its function is to receive chemical signals that control cellular activity. "Until now, this receptor was considered part of the immune system without function in nerve cells.

3 May 2016

Snapshots of NMDA receptor activation may help in novel drug design

Structural biologists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Janelia Research Campus/HHMI, have obtained snapshots of the activation of an important type of brain-cell receptor. Dysfunction of the receptor has been implicated in a range of neurological illnesses, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, depression, seizure, schizophrenia, autism, and injuries related to stroke.

3 May 2016

Social networks may cause stress to children and adolescents

Research has shown the significance of social relationships in influencing adult human behavior and health; however, little is known about how children's perception of their social networks correlates with stress and how it may influence development. Now, a University of Missouri research team has determined that children and adolescents physically react to their social networks and the stress those networks may cause. Scientists believe that the quality and size of the social relationships nurtured in childhood may have important physiological consequences for physical and mental health for youth.

3 May 2016

New mental health assessment tool expedites patient's crime risk evaluation

Washington State University researchers have developed a new assessment tool to gauge the risk that someone with a mental illness will commit a crime. It could also speed up long-delayed competency evaluations for people awaiting trial.

30 Apr 2016

Feeding breast milk during first month of life may spur brain growth in preterm infants

Feeding premature babies mostly breast milk during the first month of life appears to spur more robust brain growth, compared with babies given little or no breast milk.

30 Apr 2016

Level of salts in the brain play critical role in controlling sleep-wake cycle

Danish research is behind a new epoch-making discovery, which may prove decisive to future brain research. The level of salts in the brain plays a critical role in whether we are asleep or awake. This discovery may be of great importance to research on psychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia and convulsive fits from lack of sleep as well as post-anaesthetization confusion, according to Professor Maiken Nedergaard.

30 Apr 2016

Frailty, depression symptoms in older adults can affect spouses

Frailty, a condition that affects 10 percent of people aged 65 and older, can make older adults more prone to disability, falls, hospitalization and a shorter lifespan. Recently, researchers writing in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society examined the effects of frailty and depression on married couples.

30 Apr 2016

DIEP flap breast reconstruction improves long-term quality of life for breast cancer patients

For women who have undergone mastectomy for breast cancer, breast reconstruction using the abdominal "DIEP flap" provides good long-term quality of life (QOL)—similar to that of women without breast cancer, reports a study in the May issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

30 Apr 2016

Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Implantable brain device shows promising results in animal study

Formal mental health therapies offer little relief from postpartum depression for low-income mothers of color

New study finds genetic overlap between bipolar disorder and autism

Promising specialty medical home approach to patient-centered, cost-effective care for IBD patients

Candida yeast infections more common in men with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder

High prevalence of depression alongside COPD can impact overall health, treatment effectiveness

Depression, anxiety co-occur in bipolar disorder patients following mania

Influence of psychiatric comorbidities on all-cause readmissions following elective spine surgery

High-intensity exercise, group activity reduce depression among older dementia patients

New study shows women susceptible to pain-relieving placebo effect of vasopressin

Yoga, aquatic exercise have positive influence on multiple sclerosis symptoms

Brain receptor that initiates adolescent synaptic pruning appears to go awry in autism, schizophrenia

Study shows cannabinoid type 2 receptor plays vital role in signal processing of the brain

Snapshots of NMDA receptor activation may help in novel drug design

Social networks may cause stress to children and adolescents

New mental health assessment tool expedites patient's crime risk evaluation

Feeding breast milk during first month of life may spur brain growth in preterm infants

Level of salts in the brain play critical role in controlling sleep-wake cycle

Frailty, depression symptoms in older adults can affect spouses

DIEP flap breast reconstruction improves long-term quality of life for breast cancer patients

How can super-resolution technology help study neurotransmission?

The Proteoform Puzzle: Unlocking the Next Frontier

Synthetic Biology and the Pursuit of Living Diagnostics

Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

How can super-resolution technology help study neurotransmission?

The Proteoform Puzzle: Unlocking the Next Frontier

Synthetic Biology and the Pursuit of Living Diagnostics

Newsletters you may be interested in