Psychiatry News and Research

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

Researchers identify gene expression signatures linked to suicide risk

Is risk of suicide in our genes? Findings of an international scientific team led by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope, suggest that gene expression studies could offer insights into the underlying causes of suicide, a highly complex public health problem that takes the lives of more than 800,000 people each year worldwide.

10 Jan 2022

Physical activity may help boost synaptic functioning in older adults

When elderly people stay active, their brains have more of a class of proteins that enhances the connections between neurons to maintain healthy cognition, a UC San Francisco study has found.

7 Jan 2022

Study provides deeper insights into familial Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurological disease that causes impairments in memory and cognition. AD is believed to result from the deposition of protein "plaques" consisting of amyloid beta (Aβ) proteins sequentially generated via the enzyme γ-secretase.

7 Jan 2022

Study reinforces the link between microglia and some cases of brain disease

Certain subtle differences in DNA sequences are known to raise the chances a person may develop Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease.

6 Jan 2022

New study links anxiety and PTSD to increased myelin in brain's gray matter

A recent study links anxiety behavior in rats, as well as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in military veterans, to increased myelin - a substance that expedites communication between neurons - in areas of the brain associated with emotions and memory.

6 Jan 2022

FAU researchers urge to prescribe aspirin based on benefit-to-risk not age

Recent guidelines have restricted aspirin use in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease to patients under 70, and more recent guidance to patients under 60. Yet, the risks of heart attacks and strokes increase markedly with age.

5 Jan 2022

Study defines a novel way to identify potential new interventions for autism

Researchers from King's College London have shown that there are variations in how a brain chemical called GABA regulates the processing of visual stimuli.

5 Jan 2022

Birth during the pandemic associated with slightly lower scores in infants' motor and social skills

Columbia researchers found that babies born during the pandemic's first year scored lower on a developmental screening test of social and motor skills at 6 months-;regardless of whether their mothers had COVID during pregnancy-;compared to babies born just before the pandemic.

4 Jan 2022

Research demonstrates the safety, feasibility of psilocybin administered at doses of 10mg or 25mg

New research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London, in partnership with COMPASS Pathways, has established that psilocybin can be safely administered at doses of either 10mg or 25mg to up to six participants simultaneously.

4 Jan 2022

Researchers identify a biomarker in platelets that tracks the extent of depression

Researchers are one step closer to developing a blood test that provides a simple biochemical hallmark for depression and reveals the efficacy of drug therapy in individual patients.

3 Jan 2022

New systematic review finds low-quality evidence on the effectiveness of hangover remedies

A new systematic review has found only very low-quality evidence that substances claiming to treat or prevent alcohol-induced hangover work.

3 Jan 2022

New study targets the methylation profile of microglia from human brain

In the central nervous system, microglial cells play critical roles in development, aging, brain homeostasis, and pathology. Recent studies have shown variation in the gene-expression profile and phenotype of microglia across brain regions and between different age and disease states.

29 Dec 2021

Recently evolved region of the ‘dark genome’ provides clues to treatment of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder

Scientists investigating the DNA outside our genes - the 'dark genome' - have discovered recently evolved regions that code for proteins associated with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

23 Dec 2021

Schools account for a small, but important part of young person's mental health

A study in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP), published by Elsevier, reports in adolescents 11-14 years old, that schools account for a small, but significant part of a young person's mental health.

23 Dec 2021

Changes in white matter connections during development linked to psychosis risk

Brain imaging studies have shown structural and functional abnormalities in people with psychosis in the connections between the cortex and the thalamus, the major waystation for incoming sensory information and a critical regulator of cortical activity.

22 Dec 2021

Star-shaped cells in the brain regulate cognitive flexibility

As we live in a dynamically changing environment, it is important for our brain to not only learn new things but also to modify existing memories.

21 Dec 2021

Clinical trial results do not support the use of fish oil supplements to prevent depression

Results from the largest clinical trial of its kind do not support the use of fish oil supplements-;a source of omega-3 fatty acid-;to help prevent depression.

21 Dec 2021

Deletion of autism-linked gene diminishes myelin in mice

Myelin, a sheath of insulation around nerves that enables electrical impulses to efficiently travel through the central nervous system, is diminished in mice that have a gene deletion associated with autism spectrum disorder, new research finds.

21 Dec 2021

Children and adolescents with persistent high levels of anxiety at greater risk for later psychosis

Children and adolescents who show persistent high levels of anxiety are more likely to become psychotic in their early 20s, according to a new study.

21 Dec 2021

Pandemic poses short- and long-term risks to babies, especially boys

The pandemic has created a hostile environment for pregnant people and their babies. Stress levels among expectant mothers have soared. Pregnant women with covid are five times as likely as uninfected pregnant people to require intensive care and 22 times as likely to die. Infected moms are four times as likely to have a stillborn child.

21 Dec 2021