Psychiatry News and Research

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Psychiatry is the treatment, study and prevention of mental disorders.

PET imaging agent may help predict effectiveness of depression treatment

A positron emission tomography imaging agent could show, ahead of time, whether a specific treatment is likely to be effective for major depressive disorder--a debilitating condition that affects more than 14 million Americans.

6 Apr 2018

New brain cells are added in elderly adult brains too

Scientists have long debated the fact that brains change with age and no new brain cells or neurons are added once an adult is fully grown. With age the number of neurons begins to decline leading to several problems with memory and cognition.

6 Apr 2018

Negative fateful life events appear to accelerate brain aging, study finds

Conflict, a death in the family, financial hardship and serious medical crises are all associated with accelerated physical aging. In a new study, researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine found that such negative fateful life events -- or FLEs -- appear to also specifically accelerate aging in the brain.

5 Apr 2018

Chronic illnesses plus functional limitations increase death risk for older heart failure patients

Heart failure affects more than 6 million people in the U.S.--most of whom are older adults. Roughly half the older adults who have heart failure also live with five or more other chronic health conditions.

5 Apr 2018

Vitamin D blood test may have potential to rapidly diagnose bipolar disorder in children

A blood test may have the potential to speed accurate diagnosis - and proper treatment - of bipolar disorder in children, new research suggests.

5 Apr 2018

Researchers study how often healthcare providers prescribe anticholinergics for older adults

Anticholinergics are a class of medications that are often prescribed for allergies, lung disease, and urinary incontinence. They also often can increase health risks for older adults.

5 Apr 2018

Adolescent mental disorder rates vary by immigrant generation and race-ethnicity

Immigrant youth from specific racial-ethnic groups in the USA tend to have lower rates of certain mental disorders compared to their non-immigrant peers,reports a study published in the April 2018 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

4 Apr 2018

Study reveals differences in the brains of children with fragile X syndrome

For the first time, UNC School of Medicine researchers have used MRIs to show that babies with the neurodevelopmental condition fragile X syndrome had less-developed white matter compared to infants that did not develop the condition.

4 Apr 2018

Training programs tailored to address specific memory difficulty can be effective, study suggests

When people hear that their memory will worsen as they age, the question on their minds becomes: what can we do to remember better?

3 Apr 2018

Long-term consumption of caffeine has negative effects for Alzheimer's disease

A study coordinated by the Institute of Neuroscience of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and in collaboration with the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden provides evidence that a long-term consumption of caffeine has negative effects for Alzheimer's disease, worsening the neuropsychiatric symptoms appearing in the majority of those affected by the disorder. The research was recently published in Frontiers in Pharmacology.

3 Apr 2018

Study uncovers mechanism causing chronic GVHD after bone marrow transplant

Allogeneic bone marrow transplant (BMT) is an essential treatment to cure patients with blood cancers such as leukemia. In patients who have undergone chemotherapy and radiation, a small number of cancer cells can remain in the bloodstream and allow the malignancy to recur.

3 Apr 2018

Psychiatrist stays close to home and true to her childhood promise

Dr. Yamanda Edwards, the daughter of a truck driver and a stay-at-home mom, grew up just a few miles from Martin Luther King/Drew Medical Center, at the time an iconic yet troubled hospital in South Los Angeles.

3 Apr 2018

Staying alive: How to fight an opioid addiction

If you or a loved one wants to beat an opioid addiction, first make sure you have a handy supply of naloxone, a medication that can reverse an overdose and save your life.

2 Apr 2018

New model predicts impact of rare genetic variants on IQ

Researchers have developed a new model that can predict the effect of rare genetic variants on a person’s IQ.

30 Mar 2018

New model predicts impact of rare genetic variants on IQ

Researchers have developed a new model that can predict the effect of rare genetic variants on a person’s IQ.

30 Mar 2018

How many opioid overdoses are suicides?

Mady Ohlman was 22 on the evening some years ago when she stood in a friend’s bathroom looking down at the sink.

28 Mar 2018

Researchers measure whether transcranial direct current stimulation generates EFs in deep brain areas

A defining characteristic of stroke is the loss of motor control due to structural damage in specific brain areas. In fact, motor impairments (or deficits) are the number one complication after stroke.

27 Mar 2018

Cannabis use linked to increased initiation of cigarette smoking among non-smokers

While cigarette smoking has long been on the decline, marijuana use is on the rise and, disproportionately, marijuana users also smoke cigarettes. A new study by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the City University of New York reports that cannabis use was associated with an increased initiation of cigarette smoking among non-cigarette smokers.

27 Mar 2018

Researchers propose new approach to look deeper into brain function

To uncover connections between brain regions and specific cognitive functions, neuroscientists have long made extensive use of techniques like functional resonance imaging (fMRI). First introduced in the 1990's, the method allows tracking the brain's activity while a test subject performs a task or responds to stimuli in the MRI scanner.

26 Mar 2018

New device achieves 92% accuracy in detecting patients with severe stroke

A new device worn like a visor can detect emergent large-vessel occlusion in patients with suspected stroke with 92 percent accuracy, report clinical investigators at the Medical University of South Carolina, Mount Sinai, the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center and elsewhere in an article published online on March 6, 2018, in the Journal of Neurointerventional Surgery.

26 Mar 2018