Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Dire need to increase awareness of diabetes in U.S.

According to the American Diabetes Association, there are 23.6 million children and adults living with diabetes in the U.S. Of this number, nearly 17.9 million people are currently undiagnosed, indicating that there is a dire need to increase awareness of the symptoms of the disease.

23 Mar 2009

p11 protein may lead to faster acting antidepressants

Research conducted by Nobel laureate Paul Greengard, Medical Director of The Michael Stern Parkinson's Research Center at The Rockefeller University, Dr. Jennifer L. Warner-Schmidt in New York and colleagues in Sweden, demonstrated in the Journal of Neuroscience that the brain protein called p11 could lead pharmaceutical companies to develop anti-depression drugs that begin working within hours or days rather than the weeks or even months required by current drugs.

23 Mar 2009

FDA approves Symbyax for treatment-resistant depression

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new indication for Symbyax (olanzapine and fluoxetine HCl capsules), Eli Lilly and Company has announced.

23 Mar 2009

Thinning of right hemisphere in brain a marker for familial form of depression

Findings from one of the largest-ever imaging studies of depression indicate that a structural difference in the brain - a thinning of the right hemisphere - appears to be linked to a higher risk for depression, according to new research at Columbia University Medical Center and the New York State Psychiatric Institute.

23 Mar 2009

New York City public hospital system announces cuts targeting mental health, community clinics

New York City's public hospital system on Thursday said it will cut 400 jobs and close some children's mental health programs, pharmacies and community clinics that serve more than 11,000 residents, the New York Times reports.

23 Mar 2009

Insights into Parkinson's disease and deep-brain stimulation

About the only thing doctors have understood about deep-brain stimulation, which is widely used to treat Parkinson's disease symptoms, is that somehow it works for many patients.

20 Mar 2009

Scientists trial device to treat chemotherapy-related nausea

Trials to test acupressure wrist bands as a drug-free alternative for chemotherapy-related nausea are to take place at the University of Liverpool.

20 Mar 2009

Schizophrenia gene found to control the birth of new neurons

A gene that is arguably the most studied "schizophrenia gene" plays an unanticipated role in the brain: It controls the birth of new neurons in addition to their integration into existing brain circuitry, according to a report in the March 20th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication.

20 Mar 2009

Blocked enzyme reverses schizophrenia-like symptoms

Researchers at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory have found that inhibiting a key brain enzyme in mice reversed schizophrenia-like symptoms.

20 Mar 2009

Low to moderate drinking releases 'feel-good' endorphins in the brain, not heavy drinking

Scientists know that alcohol affects the brain, but the specifics remain unclear.

20 Mar 2009

Heightened level of amygdala activity may cause social deficits in autism

Something strange is going on in the amygdala - an almond-shaped structure deep in the human brain - among people with autism.

20 Mar 2009

Heart bypass surgery better than angioplasty for certain patients

After three years working with investigators from 10 different clinical trials around the world from Brazil to London to Pittsburgh, Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have pooled enough individual patient data to compare the effectiveness of coronary artery bypass surgery with the less-invasive angioplasty procedure on specific groups of patients for the first time.

20 Mar 2009

Fetal alcohol syndrome testing expands

Improved technology, partnerships and collaboration across two provinces have allowed Queen's University scientists to dramatically expand the use of eye-movement tests that help identify and assess children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).

20 Mar 2009

Drinking alcohol is the greatest risk factor for acetaldehyde-related cancer

New evidence by researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and researchers in Germany shows that drinking alcohol is the greatest risk factor for acetaldehyde-related cancer.

20 Mar 2009

Happy pills in America -- Our complex love affair with designer consciousness

The spectacular increase in the use of psychiatric drugs over the past 50 years involved what a University at Buffalo historian calls "a massive break with what we consider 'normal' mental health," one linked to myriad social and cultural changes in America.

19 Mar 2009

Groundbreaking study into depression

Medical researchers from Sydney University's Brain Dynamics Centre have launched a world-first study that could lead to a dramatic improvement in how people are treated medically for depression.

19 Mar 2009

Understanding mental illness through gene-environment interactions

Biological Psychiatry, published by Elsevier, is very pleased to present a special section of its February 1st issue devoted to fundamental new insights into epigenetics, a field of research devoted to understanding how the environment can produce long-lasting or even heritable changes in gene function without altering the DNA sequence.

17 Mar 2009

Hearing could hold key to unlocking schizophrenia mystery

Measuring brain waves in response to hearing a variety of tones appears to be a useful way to begin understanding the underlying genetic abnormalities associated with schizophrenia, says a study headed by researchers at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital.

17 Mar 2009

Drug being used to improve cognition affects dopamine, suggesting potential for abuse

Preliminary research in healthy men suggests that the narcolepsy drug modafinil, increasingly being used to enhance cognitive abilities, affects the activity of dopamine in the brain in a way that may create the potential for abuse and dependence, according to a study in the March 18 issue of JAMA.

17 Mar 2009

Cephalon announces positive results from study of NUVIGIL in bipolar depression

Cephalon, Inc. has announced positive results from a phase two clinical trial of NUVIGIL(R) (armodafinil) Tablets [C-IV] as adjunctive therapy for treating major depressive disorder in adults with bipolar I disorder.

17 Mar 2009