Research published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine suggests that regardless of cultural background, circumcised boys may run a greater risk of developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The risk, according to the Danish researchers who conducted the study, is particularly high for infantile autism before the age of five. The study, involving […]
A new study by researchers at the University of Oxford shows that mental illnesses reduce life expectancy by 10-20 years, a loss of years that’s equivalent to or worse than that for heavy smoking. The researchers say the figures should galvanize governments and health and social services to put a much higher priority on how […]
Babies whose mothers were exposed during pregnancy to stressors such as trauma, illness, alcohol, or drug abuse become susceptible to various psychiatric disorders later in life. Now, researchers think that it may be the stressor’s effect on single gene that gives rise to conditions such as schizophrenia, PTSD, autism, and bipolar disorders. The Yale University […]
Catching a cold or the flu, which leads to inflammation in the brain, impairs our ability to form spatial memories. That’s according to researchers from the Brighton and Sussex Medical School (UK) who have been studying how brain chemistry changes with inflammation and the resulting effects on cognition. They say the impairment results from a […]
The people who carry the high-risk SORL1 gene for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease show changes in their brains beginning in early childhood, according to researchers from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). SORL1 is one of a number of genes linked to an increased risk of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. It carries the gene code […]
Probiotics are best known for supposedly helping maintain a healthy digestive system, but they are also increasingly the subject of neurological research to understand how microbes could possibly supplement our gut bacteria to improve our mental health. The development and marketing of products that contain live bacteria has flourished in recent years despite the fact […]
A protein produced during endurance exercise has been isolated and given to non-exercising mice, where it switched on genes that promote brain health and encouraged the growth of new nerves and synapses involved in learning and memory. The breakthrough was reported by scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School and is detailed in […]
Psychotherapy is foundering and a new review in the journal Clinical Psychology Reviewexplores the reasons why. Figures provided in the article indicate that the use of mental health professionals by consumers is declining rapidly. Between 1998 and 2007 the proportion of patients receiving outpatient psychotherapy alone fell from 16 percent to 10 percent, while the […]
New research appearing in The Journal of Neuroscience shows that during prolonged stress, cells from the immune system are recruited to the brain and promote symptoms of anxiety. The findings, from experiments with mice, offer a new explanation of how stress can lead to mood disorders. They also identify a subset of immune cells, called […]
The use of LSD, magic mushrooms, or peyote does not increase a person’s risk of developing mental health problems, say Norwegian researchers, who instead found a correlation between the use of psychedelic drugs and fewermental health problems. The researchers, from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, based their findings on an analysis of data […]
