Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

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

Elusive brain receptor may play vital role in death of neurons from neurological diseases

Strokes, seizures, traumatic brain injury and schizophrenia: these conditions can cause persistent, widespread acidity around neurons in the brain. But exactly how that acidity affects brain function isn't well understood.

30 Apr 2016

Nuplazid (pimavanserin) tablets approved to treat hallucinations and delusions

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Nuplazid (pimavanserin) tablets, the first drug approved to treat hallucinations and delusions associated with psychosis experienced by some people with Parkinson's disease.

30 Apr 2016

People diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis often left with little or no support for emotional problems

In a new University of Manchester study, people with psoriatic arthritis have told researchers about the condition's deeply damaging mental effects and how healthcare services failed to prepare them for its reality.

29 Apr 2016

New version of obesity drug could help people reduce weight without experiencing anxiety, depression

A new version of an obesity drug that caused serious psychiatric side effects could help people lose pounds without experiencing the anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts previously associated with it. The research, published in Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry, shows that the new version of the drug can still work without reaching the brain in rats, avoiding the side effects.

29 Apr 2016

Structured transitional stroke care could decrease hospital readmission rates

A transitional stroke clinic developed by doctors and nurse practitioners at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center reduced 30-day readmission rates by 48 percent, according to a study published in the April 28 online issue of the journal Stroke.

29 Apr 2016

Key gene changes reveal four previously unknown conditions within schizophrenia

Changes in key genes clearly define four previously unknown conditions within the umbrella diagnosis of schizophrenia, according to a study led by researchers from NYU Langone Medical Center published online April 28 in EBioMedicine, a Lancet journal. Cases associated with changes in each of the four genes were different from each other in terms of symptoms, intelligence level and other disease features.

29 Apr 2016

Study examines benefits of exercise, behavioral therapy in MS patients

Groundhog Day 1994 is one Linda Friedrich will never forget. That's the day a neurologist told her, "You have multiple sclerosis and there's nothing we can do."

28 Apr 2016

Exposure to SSRI during gestation increases chances of adolescent offspring depression

A study to be published in the May 2016 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP) reports that use of certain antidepressants during pregnancy can result in offspring depression by early adolescence.

28 Apr 2016

MBCT could be effective treatment to prevent recurrence of depression

The largest meta-analysis so far of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for recurrent depression has found that MBCT is an effective treatment option that can help prevent the recurrence of major depression. The study used anonymised individual patient data from nine randomized trials of MBCT. It suggests that for the millions of people who suffer recurrent depression it provides a treatment choice and an alternative or addition to other approaches such as maintenance anti-depressants.

28 Apr 2016

Certain genetic markers linked with depression can also predict who may benefit from exercise

Call it personalized medicine for depression -- but the prescription in this case is exercise, which University of Florida Health researchers have found helps people with certain genetic traits.

28 Apr 2016

Group of gamma-protocadherins linked with neurons help regulate growth of dendrites

When you think of a neuron, imagine a tree. A healthy brain cell indeed looks like a tree with a full canopy. There's a trunk, which is the cell's nucleus; there's a root system, embodied in a single axon; and there are the branches, called dendrites.

28 Apr 2016

New book aims to guide women through menopause

As preteens, girls often take health classes to teach them about their changing bodies during puberty. For moms-to-be, classes deal with pregnancy and newborn care.

27 Apr 2016

Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

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

Elusive brain receptor may play vital role in death of neurons from neurological diseases

Nuplazid (pimavanserin) tablets approved to treat hallucinations and delusions

People diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis often left with little or no support for emotional problems

New version of obesity drug could help people reduce weight without experiencing anxiety, depression

Structured transitional stroke care could decrease hospital readmission rates

Key gene changes reveal four previously unknown conditions within schizophrenia

Study examines benefits of exercise, behavioral therapy in MS patients

Exposure to SSRI during gestation increases chances of adolescent offspring depression

MBCT could be effective treatment to prevent recurrence of depression

Certain genetic markers linked with depression can also predict who may benefit from exercise

Group of gamma-protocadherins linked with neurons help regulate growth of dendrites

New book aims to guide women through menopause

Exploring the nanoscale: How AFM is transforming cosmetic science

Innovating Texture and Culture in Plant-Based Foods

Advancing brain microphysiological systems (bMPS)

Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Exploring the nanoscale: How AFM is transforming cosmetic science

Innovating Texture and Culture in Plant-Based Foods

Advancing brain microphysiological systems (bMPS)

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