Feature Channels: Mental Health

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A new graduate education program at the University of Missouri has received nearly $700,000 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to train psychology doctoral candidates in integrated, primary health care settings, in an effort to improve health care for underserved populations with mental health and physical disorders.

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Researchers from Aalto University and the University of Wisconsin utilised a TMS-EEG device, which combines transcranial magnetic stimulation and EEG, to examine how the brain activity of people in the restful non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep is affected by whether they dream or do not dream.

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The need for psychiatric services in inpatient hospitals continues to grow, according to the latest annual survey from the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems (NAPHS).

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Though the health systems in Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Jamaica, Mexico and Panama have considerable strengths, citizens still reported gaps in the way primary care is organized, financed and delivered in those countries. Those who had better experiences were less likely to say that their health system needed major reforms.

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Becoming a volunteer later on in life can result in good mental health and wellbeing, according to researchers from the University of Southampton and the University of Birmingham. However, the study which is published in the BMJ Open online, found these effects did not apply before the age of 40, suggesting that the association with volunteering may be stronger at certain points of the life course. The results also point to the need for further efforts to engage middle aged and older people in volunteering activities. Researchers from the Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute and Birmingham’s Third Sector Research Centre reviewed over 66,000 responses by British adults to questions posed through the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS).

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Hay fever may do more than give you a stuffy nose and itchy eyes, seasonal allergies may change the brain, says a study published in the open-access journal Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience.

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Scientists have clarified details in understanding the beneficial function of a type of protein normally associated with prion diseases of the brain, such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (commonly known as mad cow disease) and its human counterpart, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

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The Center for Leadership in Disability (CLD) at Georgia State University has won a federal grant to study the relationship between nature walks and behaviors associated with autism stress responses in children.

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Schizophrenia goes hand in hand with brain chemicals out of kilter, and treatment options for a major symptom aren't great. Biomedical engineers data-mined the collective scientific knowledge about working memory disturbance to build a brain chemistry simulator that lets researchers and doctors test out treatment ideas accurately.

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Iowa State University researchers have identified a protein essential for building memories that appears to predict the progression of memory loss and brain atrophy in Alzheimer’s patients. Their findings suggest there is a link between brain activity and the presence of this protein.

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People suffering from Alzheimer’s and other forms of age-related dementia sometimes have trouble recognizing friends and family or knowing what to talk about when they visit. A new app created by a group of Cornell University students offers to help patients stay connected to their memories – and thus to their friends and family – and perhaps will even help them keep a conversation going.

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Patients suffering from so-called immune-mediated neuropathies frequently have a long medical record. As there are no diagnostic tests available to reliably diagnose the disease, the diagnosis is frequently made belatedly and patients can be misdiagnosed. Accordingly, many years often pass before an effective therapy is started. However, not all patients respond to first-choice drugs even when treated immediately.

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Research has found that exercise causes more new neurons to be formed in a critical brain region, and contrary to an earlier study, these new neurons do not cause the individual to forget old memories, according to research by Texas A&M College of Medicine scientists, in the Journal of Neuroscience.

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New psychology research finds that having a positive attitude about aging makes older adults more resilient when faced with stressful situations.

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CHLA researchers report that glucose transporters, which transfer glucose from the blood to the brain, are inhibited by E. coli K1 during bacterial meningitis, leaving insufficient fuel for immune cells to fight off infection. Their findings may lead to a novel way of treating children with meningitis and reducing long-term neurological problems.

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In a recent study, combat exposure among Army enlisted women was associated with an increased likelihood of developing behavioral health problems post-deployment, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and at-risk drinking.

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A study of the impact of "boomerang fathers" -- those who cycle in and out of their children's lives -- yielded surprising results for researchers. "Boomerang fathering" provided a type of stability in a daughter's life that staved off her depressive symptoms compared to those adolescent girls whose fathers were completely absent.

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Kennedy Krieger Institute announces that Mark Furst has been named the new Senior Vice President of External Relations. In his new position at Kennedy Krieger, Furst will assist Lainy LeBow-Sachs, Executive Vice President of External Relations, to expand national recognition of the Institute’s patient care, research, special education and community programs, many of which serve children with special needs from around the country and the world. Furst has served as president and chief executive officer of United Way of Central Maryland (UWCM) since December 2009.

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When a targeted program to reduce relational aggression among at-risk girls is shared with the entire classroom, the entire class benefits—not just the aggressive girls for whom the program was developed. Pediatric researchers who developed the Friend to Friend program report on new findings in curbing nonphysical aggression among urban schoolchildren.

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For the second consecutive year, Rush University Medical Center improved in U.S. News & World Report’s rankings in the annual “Best Hospitals” issue, which became available today. U.S. News ranked Rush among the best hospitals in the country in nine specialty areas – two more than last year – and Rush improved in the rankings for eight of those specialties.

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Scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center are one step closer to understanding what causes cocaine to be so addictive.

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Marilyn Cotter recently needed a stress test following a bout of chest tightness. Unable to withstand exercise because of foot problems, Cotter, a 68-year-old grandmother from Delhi Township, wasn’t a candidate for a normal stress test that uses a treadmill. Instead, her physicians at University of Cincinnati Medical Center used a space-age option: an anti-gravity treadmill.

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The leading lay advocate for smell-training, will visit the Monell Center from the U.K. on August 9-11, 2016. During her visit she will present the first U.S. educational smell-training sessions for individuals with impaired smell and the physicians who treat them.

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/PRNewswire/ -- Araclon Biotech, in which Grifols is the majority shareholder, has presented the results of the phase I clinical trial for its active immunotherapy against Alzheimer's disease (ABvac40) at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC 2016), held in Toronto (Canada) from July 24 to 28, and organized by the American Alzheimer's Association.

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Brief, directed smartphone exercises can help quickly improve our mood. This is the latest finding from psychologists at the University of Basel and their international colleagues, reported in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.

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A new study, which followed 180 pre-term infants from birth to age seven, found that babies who were fed more breast milk within the first 28 days of life had had larger volumes of certain regions of the brain at term equivalent and had better IQs, academic achievement, working memory, and motor function.

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For the first time, UNC School of Medicine scientists report using transcranial alternating current stimulation, or tACS, to target a specific kind of brain activity during sleep and strengthen memory in healthy people.

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The study, conducted by Media & Communication professor Eric Rasmussen, shows those who regularly watch the daytime show intend to seek help for mental health issues.

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New research provides some of the first evidence that medications taken by millions of American children to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) offer long-term benefits.

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Adolescence is both a time of rapid neurobiological changes and of the initiation of drinking – alcohol is the most commonly used substance among students in grades eight to 12. Binge-drinking effects are particularly concerning, although it is unclear whether and how much it affects neurocognitive performance. This study looked at two questions: first, whether moderate, binge, or extreme-binge drinking in adolescence had an impact on later performance in tests of verbal learning and memory (VLM); and second, whether the amount of alcohol consumed is associated with specific changes in learning and memory during six years of adolescence.

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MINNEAPOLIS – A new consensus statement provides recommendations for transitioning adolescents and young adults with neurologic disorders to adult care. The statement is endorsed by the American Academy of Neurology and created by the Child Neurology Foundation. The research is published in the July 27, 2016, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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For more than a century, neuroscientists have known that nerve cells talk to one another across the small gaps between them, a process known as synaptic transmission. But the details of how this crucial aspect of brain function occurs have remained elusive. Now, new research has for the first time elucidated details about the architecture that Allows Brain Cells to Communicate. The paper was published today in the journal Nature.

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Resveratrol, given to Alzheimer’s patients, appears to restore the integrity of the blood-brain barrier, reducing the ability of harmful immune molecules secreted by immune cells to infiltrate from the body into brain tissues, say researchers. The reduction in neuronal inflammation slowed the cognitive decline of patients, compared to a matching group of placebo-treated patients with the disorder.

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The research findings, published in Annals of Neurology, suggest a correspondence between a patient’s ability to generate an EEG marker of attention to tactile stimulation, and their ability to produce the critical clinical marker of awareness by following verbal commands.

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New research sheds light on what’s going on inside our heads as we decide whether to take a risk or play it safe. Scientists located a region of the brain involved in decisions made under conditions of uncertainty, and identified some of the cells involved in the decision-making process. The work could lead to treatments for psychological and psychiatric disorders that involve misjudging risk, such as problem gambling and anxiety disorders.

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If there are crumbs on your desk from countless lunches spent responding to emails and attending to other job-related responsibilities, it may be time to clean up and take a step back.

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The first case of Alzheimer’s disease diagnosed in an HIV-positive individual will be presented in a poster session at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2016 in Toronto July 27. The finding in a 71-year-old man triggers a realization about HIV survivors now reaching the age when Alzheimer’s risk begins to escalate.

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In a study of 48 adults with a diagnosis of Early Dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment, almost half reported positive changes in life outlook and quality of life, countering the assumption that this diagnosis would have a uniformly negative impact.

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esearchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control studied the prevalence of suicide among people with epilepsy compared to the population overall and estimated that the annual suicide mortality rate among those with epilepsy was 22 percent higher than in the general population. Results are online in the journal Epilepsy and Behavior.

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High-ranking people don't always turn out to be selfish jerks. It all depends on whether they feel worthy of their prominent social position, new research indicates.

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• A metabolite that is normally excreted in urine was linked with impaired cognitive function in patients with kidney failure. • The metabolite has been previously linked to cognitive impairment in other patient populations.

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The Center for Behavioral Neuroscience (CBN) at Georgia State University has received a five-year, $3.2 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to investigate the neurochemical mechanisms underlying social stress in males and females.

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The phrase “make yourself at home” seems innocuous but there is a significant psychological element to it that few may consider. The concept implies that a conscious effort must be employed in the endeavor. For some it’s as easy as good people in a good location. But according to a recent study, the most common method of “making oneself at home” is by identifying with the objects that are kept in the home — and that kind of attachment can have significant consequences if left unchecked.

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Screening for suicide risk among publicly insured urban children who are experiencing psychological distress is vitally important, finds a new study from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

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A detailed new map by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis lays out the landscape of the human cerebral cortex. The map will accelerate progress in the study of brain diseases, as well as help to elucidate what makes us unique as a species.

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In research using patient medical records, investigators from Johns Hopkins and Sheppard Pratt Health System report that people with serious mental disorders who were hospitalized for mania were more likely to be on antibiotics to treat active infections than a group of people without a mental disorder.

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People who selectively recalled positive information over neutral and negative information performed worse on memory tests conducted by University of California, Irvine neurobiologists, who said the results suggest that this discriminating remembrance may be a marker for early stages of memory loss in the elderly.

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– In recent years, measures have been introduced to reduce the rate of "antipsychotic polypharmacy"—taking more than one antipsychotic drug—among patients with schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses. But at least 12 percent of patients are still prescribed multiple antipsychotics after an inpatient stay at a state psychiatric hospital, according to an analysis of nationwide data in the July Journal of Psychiatric Practice®, published by Wolters Kluwer.

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Scientists from King's College London have used a new genetic scoring technique to predict academic achievement from DNA alone. This is the strongest prediction from DNA of a behavioural measure to date.