Study suggests interplay of gene, stress can predict depression
... the brain could predict who was likely to develop depression after stressful life events. This finding could le...ing patterns. "The World Health Organization ranks depression as the world's fourth leading cause of disease burden - years that humans live with disability," say...Common treatment for depression is safe and effective for Alzheimer's patients
...ent. This study shows that a simple treatment for depression improves the quality of life and seems to slow the...ive compulsive disorder and panic disorder. Major depression affects 25 percent of patients with Alzheimer's disease, and when combined with the cognitive impair...Creation of new neurons critical to antidepressant action in mice
...he clinical response." Chronic stress, anxiety and depression have been linked to atrophy or loss of hippocampal neurons. A few years ago, Hen's colleague and co-author Ronald Duman, Ph.D., Yale University, reported that some antidepressants promote hippocampal neurogenesis. But to what effect? To begin to dem...Sex-based and women's health research gain $150,000
...that involve the study of treatment for postpartum depression (PPD) and the role sex-chromosomes play in drug addiction. The grants have been awarded through the Society's Isis Fund for Interdisciplinary Research in Sex-Based Biology and will support two collaborative research projects in the Isis Network on...Jefferson and Brigham and Women's researchers find blue light important for setting biological clock
...n the therapeutic use of light for treating winter depression and circadian disorders," says George Brainard, Ph.D., professor of neurology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. "Some makers of light therapy equipment are developing prototypes with enhanced blue light stim...Exercise measures identify heart disease in seemingly healthy women
...cal Association, also demonstrated that ST-segment depression (a measure of decreased blood flow) on electrocardiogram readings - used to diagnose hidden heart disease in men - did not accurately identify women with hidden heart disease. Overall, after accounting for many risk factors, scientists found that w...NIH told regular and moderate exposure to sunlight is the key to preventing chronic disease
...cer, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, depression and multiple sclerosis. Dr. Holick said, "We have a severe unrecognized epidemic of Vitamin D deficient patients on our hands. The public health issues at stake go far beyond bone health and involve chronic disease such as breast and colon cancer an...Adult alcoholism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder are connected
... history of major psychiatric disorders, including depression and schizophrenia, and those with addictions to drugs other than alcohol and nicotine, were excluded from the investigation. Genotyping was performed without knowledge of diagnostic status, with a focus on the 5-HTT promoter and the 5-HT2c Cys23Ser ...Gene mutation in rare familial form of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
...rome (2), alcohol problems (4), social phobia (3), depression (3) plus ADHD and PTSD and were generally treatment resistant. This suggests that OCD in these two families is complicated and severe. The mutation is rare, and thus far has been identified in a total of 7 of 833 individuals (in this study and a pri...Study finds new mothers are resistant to stress
...f mental illness in females, especially postpartum depression and psychosis. In their next studies, the researchers will be addressing the age-old question: Is it nurture or nature? Is the stress response suppressed because of behaviors that occur during motherhood, such as those directly involving nurture a...Estrogen promotes gender differences in brain's response to stress
Many stress-related mental illnesses, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), occur at least twice as often in women as in men. While social and cultural factors certainly may contribute to this statistic, potential neurobiological reasons for this discrepancy have been inadequately ...Scientists identify molecular step that causes intoxication
...cts on this channel in nerve cells to cause neural depression and intoxication," said Steven McIntire, MD, PhD. "We would expect that the same process functions in humans, who also have this type of channel." McIntire is senior author of a report on the discovery in the December 12 issue of the journal CELL. He...Science's breakthrough of the year: Illumination of the dark, expanding universe
...isk of inherited disorders, such as schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder. Scientists are now working to understand how these genes can distort the brain's information processing and prod someone into mental illness. Researchers hope to understand brain biases underlying mental illnesses well enough to...Bridging the gap between genetics and motivations to drink alcohol
...nforcement. Furthermore, genetic vulnerability to depression or anxiety or depression could serve as the foundation for drinking to alleviate negative mood states. Thus, the current stu...UT Southwestern researchers study benefit of exercise, medication on depression
...ram. SSRIs are the most prescribed medications for depression and include such drugs as Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil an... associate professor of psychiatry and head of the depression and anxiety disorders program at UT Southwestern. "While their symptoms are reduced, they seldom get...Researchers-again-pinpoint why stress kills
... for matrimony is a proven fact: the prevalence of depression in patients with coronary artery disease (e.g., my...that of the general population. Background Major depression is a significant predictor of mortality after myocardial infarction. Its predictive ability on subse...Small amounts of alcohol or anesthetics may damage the developing brain
...eam also tested a related process called long-term depression (LTD). When treated with an LTD stimulus, normal slices of the rat hippocampus experience a 30 to 40 percent decrease in synaptic transmission. But those rats treated with alcohol or anesthetics experienced a complete elimination of LTD. What LTD doe...UW study: Baby's face lights up emotional center of new mom's brain
...hiatry and psychology at UW-Madison. "We know that depression and anxiety are not accompanied solely by an incre...tween orbitofrontal cortex activity and postpartum depression in a follow-up study similar to the one just published. That study will include new mothers who are ...Migraine mouse provides insight into neurobiology of devastating headaches
...and increased susceptibility to cortical spreading depression (CSD), the phenomenon that underlies the migraine aura. "Previous studies have indicated that CSD is a wave of intense neuronal activity along the surface of the brain, followed by a long-lasting neuronal suppression. Our results suggest that in the ......s, biological clocks offer scientific insight into depression and medication toxicity, as well as helps pinpoint...ep-wake cycle disruptions lead to various types of depression and may ultimately uncover ways to better cope with shift work and jet lag. Hardin's enthusiasm fo...