Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Transition Therapeutics presents Phase 2 study of ELND005 drug for bipolar disorder

Transition Therapeutics Inc. ("Transition" or the "Company") today announced findings from a Phase 2 study of neuropsychiatric drug candidate, ELND005, as an adjunctive maintenance treatment for bipolar disorder type I patients (BPD).

4 Nov 2014

U-M receives $1.6 million federal grant to study potential social and environmental links to autism

University of Michigan researchers will use a new $1.6 million federal grant to probe potential social and environmental links to autism, collecting location-specific information from tens of thousands of affected individuals and their families nationwide.

3 Nov 2014

RDoC research initiative aims to help guide classification of patients in clinical studies

A new effort by the National Institutes of Health will facilitate communication among scientists, clinicians, and the public to reframe mental health research, from diagnosis to treatment. The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) unit was recently established by the National Institute of Mental Health, part of NIH, to support the development of the institute's RDoC initiative.

31 Oct 2014

Accumulated environmental risks have substantial impact on schizophrenia

Accumulation of environmental risk factors has a “huge” effect on age at schizophrenia onset, German researchers report.

31 Oct 2014

Family therapy useful in bipolar disorder

Psychoeducational family intervention improves social functioning in patients with bipolar I disorder and reduces burden among close relatives, Italian study data show.

31 Oct 2014

Study identifies new targets for developing novel treatment for alcohol dependence

Bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract fulfill many vital functions and are critical for digestion. Yet, these same bacteria can induce strong inflammatory responses by the immune system if they penetrate the gut and enter the bloodstream.

31 Oct 2014

Two major studies newly implicate dozens of genes in autism

Two major genetic studies of autism, led in part by UC San Francisco scientists and involving more than 50 laboratories worldwide, have newly implicated dozens of genes in the disorder. The research shows that rare mutations in these genes affect communication networks in the brain and compromise fundamental biological mechanisms that govern whether, when, and how genes are activated overall.

31 Oct 2014

Scratching itchy skin causes the brain to release serotonin, intensifies itchy feeling

Turns out your mom was right: Scratching an itch only makes it worse. New research from scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates that scratching causes the brain to release serotonin, which intensifies the itch sensation.

31 Oct 2014

Men with BPH need to discuss 'male orgasmic dysfunction' with doctors prior to any treatment

NeoTract, Inc., today welcomes the publication of a paper in the British Journal of Urology International which calls for men suffering from enlarged prostate to discuss with their doctors the likely impact of treatment options on their sexual function. Most procedures and many medications can cause sexual dysfunction. Clinical studies show that treatment with the UroLift system has not been associated with any new onset of sustained ejaculatory or erectile dysfunction.

31 Oct 2014

Study: Even mild depressive symptoms can weaken outcome of lumbar spinal stenosis surgery

Even mild depressive symptoms can weaken the outcome of lumbar spinal stenosis surgery, according to a recent study completed at the University of Eastern Finland and Kuopio University Hospital. Patients with depressive symptoms had a weaker functional capacity post-surgery even five years after surgery.

31 Oct 2014

Researchers discover link between seizures and migraines

Seizures and migraines have always been considered separate physiological events in the brain, but now a team of engineers and neuroscientists looking at the brain from a physics viewpoint discovered a link between these and related phenomena.

30 Oct 2014

Paternal age increases schizophrenia risk independently of IQ

Being born to an older father increases the risk of developing a schizophrenia spectrum disorder in adulthood but has no effect on premorbid IQ, say researchers from Denmark.

30 Oct 2014

Quality of life maintained during mRCC TKI therapy

Treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors does not appear to significantly impair health-related quality of life in Japanese patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma, say researchers.

30 Oct 2014

Physical health management below par in schizophrenia patients

The diagnosis and treatment of physical ailments in patients with schizophrenia falls below acceptable standards, shows a national audit of patients in England and Wales.

30 Oct 2014

New blood test could predict early onset Alzheimer’s disease with high accuracy

The research team previously identified that changes in the brain occur two decades before patients show signs of dementia. These changes can be detected through expensive brain imaging procedures.

30 Oct 2014

UCSD researchers validate EEG test to study, treat schizophrenia

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have validated an EEG test to study and treat schizophrenia. The findings, published in two separate studies, offer a clinical test that could be used to help diagnose persons at risk for developing mental illness later in life, as well as an approach for measuring the efficacies of different treatment options.

29 Oct 2014

Genetic differences contribute to risk for autism

Small differences in as many as a thousand genes contribute to risk for autism, according to a study led by Mount Sinai researchers and the Autism Sequencing Consortium, and published today in the journal Nature.

29 Oct 2014

Researchers use DNA sequencing to uncover genes that heighten autism risk

In the largest study of its kind to date, researchers have used DNA sequencing to uncover dozens of genes that heighten the risk for autism. Joseph Buxbaum, Ph.D., Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, Mark Daly, Ph.D., Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, and their colleagues examined more than 14,000 DNA samples from affected children, parents and unrelated people.

29 Oct 2014

Researchers find potential target for therapies to treat cocaine addiction

A study led by investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has identified a potential target for therapies to treat cocaine addiction.

29 Oct 2014

Teen binge drinking effects may last a lifetime, suggests UMass Amherst study

Binge drinking can have lasting effects on brain pathways that are still developing during adolescence, say neuroscience researcher Heather N. Richardson and her colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Louisiana State University.

29 Oct 2014