Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Depression, Major depressive disorder, Mental disorder, Mental health, Psychology, schizophrenia, symptoms, videos on November 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
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pointer to symptommedia.org – fantastic video resource of specific symptoms of mental illness.
“The intention of these clips are to be used in the classroom setting as visual compliments to the written description of symptoms for psychological phenomena found in the DSM handbook.”
Posted in BDNF, tagged 23andMe, BDNF, Brain-derived neurotrophic factor, Hippocampus, Major depressive disorder, Mental health, Stem cell, Stress on September 17, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Image by digitalART2 via Flickr
In Robert Sapolsky’s book, “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers“, he details a biological feedback system wherein psychological stress leads to the release of glucocorticoids that have beneficial effects in the near-term but negative effects (e.g. ulcers, depression, etc.) in the long-term. The key to getting the near-term benefits and avoiding the [...]
Posted in Cingulate cortex, GABA, Glutamate, acetylcholine, tagged acetylcholine, AMPA, Cingulate, Emotion, evolution, Gene expression, Major depressive disorder on January 8, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
OK, there’s not really a “coolest” part of the brain, but, some areas are pretty darn weird & wild. Consider the cingulate cortex (shown here). Electrical stimulation of the pACC region in humans can produce overwhelming fear – even a feeling that death is imminent – while stimulation of white matter tracts adjacent to area [...]
Posted in Kinesin, PCLO, tagged Depression, Major depressive disorder, Mental disorder, Mental health on January 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
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Commuting to work is a total drag. Commuting to work in New York City is not just a total drag, but THE definitive commuting nightmare. Still, when one ponders the masses of people (more than 2 million each day) who tread in, out and around Manhattan, its pretty remarkable that one can get [...]
Posted in ABCB1, tagged Antidepressant, economics, Major depressive disorder, Personalized medicine on February 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Image via Wikipedia Recent meta-analytical research, “Selective Publication of Antidepressant Trials and Its Influence on Apparent Efficacy” (N Engl J Med 2008;358:252-60) reveals that while 94% of published antidepressant drug trials show positive findings, only 51% of all such (published and unpublished) trials show positive effects (with a range of effect sizes from 11-69%). [...]
Posted in Hippocampus, VGF, tagged Antidepressant, exercise, Major depressive disorder, Mental health on December 18, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Image via Wikipedia The Wall Street Journal just ran a piece on the growing use of electro-convulsive (“shock”) therapy in elderly patients suffering from severe depression. While the clinical evidence may show this approach is effective – albeit scary – it is notable that another study published on the same day by Hunsberger et [...]
Posted in 5HTT, AMPA receptor, GRIA3, GRIK2, Glutamate, tagged Antidepressant, Depression, Major depressive disorder, SSRI, Suicide on September 1, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Image via Wikipedia The recent paper, “Genetic Markers of Suicidal Ideation Emerging During Citalopram Treatment of Major Depression” finds that among 68 candidate genes, markers for 2 AMPA-type glutamate receptors (rs4825476, rs2518224: GRIA3 and GRIK2) show significant association in 120 individuals who experienced suicidal ideation in a large medication trial for major depressive disorder. [...]
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Addiction, Depression, Major depressive disorder, Therapy on May 16, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
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I much enjoyed Helen Mayberg’s October 13th podcast, “Paths to Recovery in Major Depression: Insights from Functional Neuroimaging” hosted by Science & the City, the webzine of the NY Academy of Science. One comment that stuck with me was her mention of ‘brain-based algorithms’ for the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. [...]
