Mental Health Research News

April 19, 2024

Top Headlines

Physical Activity Reduces Stress-Related Brain Activity to Lower Cardiovascular Disease Risk

Apr. 15, 2024 — Over a ten-year period, biobank participants who met recommended levels of physical activity had a 23% lower risk of cardiovascular disease, and the protective effects were even more pronounced in ...

Teen Stress May Raise Risk of Postpartum Depression in Adults

Apr. 16, 2024 — A research team reports that social stress during adolescence in female mice later results in prolonged elevation of the hormone cortisol after they give ...

AI Model Can Accurately Assess PTSD in Postpartum Women

Apr. 11, 2024 — By analyzing the narratives of women who experienced traumatic childbirth and women with non-complicated childbirth, researchers created an AI model that can accurately identify those at risk of childbirth-related ...

Brain Stimulation Treatment May Improve Depression, Anxiety in Older Adults

Apr. 10, 2024 — A noninvasive brain stimulation treatment improved depression and anxiety symptoms among older adults in a new ...

Latest Headlines

updated 8:43pm EDT

Scientists Use Wearable Technology to Detect Stress Levels During Sleep

Apr. 11, 2024 — What if changes in a person's stress levels could be detected while they sleep using wearable devices? A new study find changes in perceived stress levels reflected in sleep data -- an important step ...

Heart Disease, Depression Linked by Inflammation

Apr. 8, 2024 — Coronary artery disease and major depression may be genetically linked via inflammatory pathways to an increased risk for cardiomyopathy, a degenerative heart muscle disease, researchers have ...

New Study Highlights the Benefit of Touch on Mental and Physical Health

Apr. 8, 2024 — Through a large-scale analysis, researchers have uncovered the ways in which consensual touch can benefit a person's physical and mental ...

Feeding the Lonely Brain

Apr. 4, 2024 — A new study has found that women who perceive themselves to be lonely exhibited activity in regions of the brain associated with cravings and motivation towards eating especially when shown pictures ...

Prairie Voles Display Signs of Human-Like Depression

Apr. 4, 2024 — Researchers make the case that prairie voles, small rodents that are found throughout the central United States and Canada, can be effectively used as animal models to further the study of clinical ...

Researchers Map How the Brain Regulates Emotions

Apr. 3, 2024 — A new study is among the first of its kind to separate activity relating to emotion generation from emotion regulation in the human brain. The findings provide new insights that could help inform ...

New Initiative Improves Detection, Evaluation of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Apr. 1, 2024 — Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most common pediatric neurobehavioral disorder with a prevalence of approximately 7%-10% in ...

Pilot Study Shows Ketogenic Diet Improves Severe Mental Illness

Apr. 1, 2024 — A small clinical trial found that the metabolic effects of a ketogenic diet may help stabilize the ...

For Younger Women, Mental Health Now May Predict Heart Health Later

Mar. 28, 2024 — Younger women are generally thought to have a low risk of heart disease, but new research urges clinicians to revisit that assumption, especially for women who suffer from certain mental health ...

Positive Associations Between Premenstrual Disorders and Perinatal Depression

Mar. 28, 2024 — Women affected by premenstrual disorders have a higher risk of perinatal depression compared with those who do not, according to new research. The ...

Study Finds Increased Anxiety and PTSD Among People Who Remained in Ukraine

Apr. 11, 2024 — Researchers conducted a survey to understand how the mental health of displaced Ukrainians has been affected by the ongoing war. Their findings describe high levels of post-traumatic stress disorder ...

People With Depression See No Immediate Change from Common GP Assessment, Study Shows

Mar. 27, 2024 — A common GP assessment used to monitor depression treatment does not provide any immediate benefits to patients. Experts testing the PHQ-9 assessment that measures the severity of depression found it ...

Large-Scale Animal Study Links Brain pH Changes to Wide-Ranging Cognitive Issues

Mar. 26, 2024 — The International Brain pH Project Consortium unveils groundbreaking findings in a large-scale animal model study, indicating altered brain pH and lactate levels as a transdiagnostic endophenotype in ...

Treating Anxiety, Depression in People With Heart Disease Reduced ER Visits, Hospitalizations

Mar. 20, 2024 — Treating anxiety and depression significantly reduced hospital readmission and emergency room visits in people with heart disease.This may be the first study to show that treating anxiety and ...

Study Eases Concern at Antipsychotics Use in Pregnancy

Mar. 18, 2024 — The use of antipsychotics during pregnancy isn't linked to childhood neurodevelopmental disorders or learning difficulties, study suggests -- giving assurance to those concerned about continuing ...

How Fear Unfolds Inside Our Brains

Mar. 14, 2024 — The stress-induced mechanisms that cause our brain to produce feelings of fear in the absence of threats -- such as in PTSD -- have been mostly a mystery. Now, neurobiologists have identified the ...

Researchers Identify Brain Connections Associated With ADHD in Youth

Mar. 13, 2024 — Researchers have discovered that symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are tied to atypical interactions between the brain's frontal cortex and information processing ...

'Study Drugs' Set the Stage for Other Drug Use and Mental Health Decline

Mar. 11, 2024 — Taking 'study drugs' like Adderall without a diagnosis is not only dangerous in itself, but can lead to other drug use and a decline in mental health, according to new ...

New Study May Broaden the Picture of the Consequences of Childhood Adversity

Mar. 6, 2024 — A research team has examined the link between adverse childhood experiences and the risk of mental health problems later in life. The researchers have found that the risk of suffering from mental ...

It's Not Just You: Young People Look, Feel Older When They're Stressed

Mar. 4, 2024 — A new study finds younger adults look and feel older on stressful days -- but only on days when they also feel they have relatively less control over their own ...

Link Between Adversity, Psychiatric and Cognitive Decline

Mar. 1, 2024 — Scientists have been examining the relationship between childhood adversity, and psychiatric decline as well as adult adversity and psychiatric and cognitive ...

Study Paves the Way for Better Diagnosis and Treatment of Endocrine Diseases

Mar. 1, 2024 — A team of researchers has discovered a new method of measuring levels of cortisol directly from a blood sample, and this marks a significant step forward in diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of ...

Teens Benefit from 'Forest Bathing' -- Even in Cities

Feb. 27, 2024 — Youth mental health in urban environments is significantly better when more nature is incorporated into city design. A new study suggests that forest bathing, the simple method of being calm and ...

Gut-Brain Communication Turned on Its Axis

Feb. 26, 2024 — The mechanisms by which antidepressants and other emotion-focused medications work could be reconsidered due to an important new breakthrough in the understanding of how the gut communicates with the ...

Intervention Reduces Likelihood of Developing Postpartum Anxiety and Depression by More Than 70%

Feb. 26, 2024 — Results from a large clinical trial show that an intervention for anxiety provided to pregnant women living in Pakistan significantly reduced the likelihood of the women developing moderate-to-severe ...

Yoga Provides Unique Cognitive Benefits to Older Women at Risk of Alzheimer's Disease

Feb. 26, 2024 — A new study found Kundalini yoga provided several benefits to cognition and memory for older women at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease including restoring neural pathways, preventing brain ...

Maternal Mental Conditions Drive Climbing Death Rate in U.S., Evidence Review Finds

Feb. 21, 2024 — Researchers culled years of data demonstrating that maternal mental illness is an under-recognized contributor to the death of new mothers. They are calling for urgent action to address this public ...

Wildfires Linked to Surge in Mental Health-Related Emergency Department Visits

Feb. 20, 2024 — A new studyshows wildfires lead to an increase of anxiety-related emergency department visits in the western United States, amplifying the concerning parallel trajectory of two escalating public ...

Stress During Pregnancy Can Lead to Early Maturation of First-Born Daughters

Feb. 20, 2024 — Researchers have found a correlation between early signs of adrenal puberty in first-born daughters and their mothers' having experienced high levels of prenatal stress. They did not find the ...

Understanding the Relationship Between Our Sleep, Body Clock and Mental Health

Feb. 19, 2024 — Problems with our sleep and internal body clock can trigger or worsen a range of psychiatric disorders, according to a new review of recent research evidence. The review suggests gaining a better ...