Consuelo Walss-Bass's family was affected by schizophrenia, yet her sister was spared. Her laboratory addresses the genetic gap by exploring signaling alterations in neurons derived from affected sibling pairs, identifying convergent abnormalities in PI3K/GSK3 signaling.
A review in Brain Medicine argues that industrialization changed sleep timing and regularity, not duration, with hunter-gatherers sleeping between 6.4 and 7.1 hours a night, less than the industrialized average. The distinction matters, as it highlights the importance of timing and regularity in sleep patterns.
Researchers report reductions of up to 75.8% in perfluorinated compounds after plasmapheresis treatment, while microplastics decrease in four out of four patients. The exact mechanism behind this effect is still unclear and requires further investigation.
A systematic review found that creatine monohydrate may reduce depressive symptoms in people taking standard antidepressants, with two trials showing significant benefits. However, three trials showed no effect, and the evidence is not yet settled due to limitations such as small sample sizes and biased patient enrollment.
A decade of canine research suggests that genetically engineered Beagles could be a complementary and welfare-conscious model for autism treatments. The study gathers findings on the behavior and traits of these dogs in relation to human autism, including signs of treatment with oxytocin and psychedelics.
A new study found that intranasal davunetide reaches the brain in higher amounts in female mice when estrogen peaks, with similar results seen in healthy adults. The findings suggest earlier trials mixing males and females may have obscured the true effects of the drug.
A team studied 173 multiplex families from the Azores and Madeira islands, finding a single broken gene that travels through three generations and causes different illnesses. The CHD2 mutation is rare and affects schizophrenia, mood disorder, and autism in different family members.
A new framework, criticome, integrates experience until age 25, reframing autism, schizophrenia, depression, and trauma as developmental disorders. The study suggests that screen-saturated childhoods may produce adult dysfunction, highlighting the importance of early experience in brain development.
Researchers mapped HuD-bound mRNAs across embryonic and adult mouse brains, finding shared biological pathways. The study suggests that adult neurons use an embryonic
J. Craig Venter's pioneering work in expressed sequence tags revolutionized brain-expressed genes identification, while his synthetic cells paved the way for synthetic biology as a working discipline. His legacy has reshaped our understanding of genomes and their functions.
Genomic Press launches Brain Health, a new peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the science of lifelong brain resilience, featuring research on glial plasticity and recovery from depression. The inaugural issue explores the intersection of fields including cognitive reserve, sleep, aging biology, nutritional psychiatry, and social sciences.
A study finds microplastics in the human brain associated with increased risk of stroke and dementia. Apheresis, a medical treatment, is proposed as a potential removal method for microplastics from the body.
Gonçalo Cotovio uses lesion network mapping to identify the circuits responsible for psychiatric symptoms, aiming to develop personalized brain stimulation treatments. His work has produced striking findings in mania and obsessive-compulsive disorder, with ambitions to extend to disordered feeding behavior.
Dr. Dilek Colak's journey began with a childhood observation of a boy with mental illness, which inspired her to pursue a career in neuroscience. Her current work focuses on understanding autism and schizophrenia through the study of human brain organoids.
Researchers discovered that neuronal nitric oxide synthase drives neuroblastoma through the mTOR signaling cascade. Treating cancer cells with a selective inhibitor called BA-101 collapsed tumor growth in mice with striking force, and silencing the nNOS gene also led to significant results.
A study published in Brain Medicine suggests autonomic dysfunction, particularly parasympathetic and sympathetic imbalances, contributes to depressive symptoms in patients unresponsive to conventional antidepressants. Low-dose medications targeting these imbalances may offer a new approach to treatment.
Dr. Phillips's laboratory identifies abnormalities in prefrontal-striatal-limbic circuitry as biomarkers for bipolar disorder before symptoms appear. Her team tracks neural network development from infancy through young adulthood.
Dr. Cazares co-founded Colors of the Brain and advocated for GRE removal to support students from underprivileged backgrounds. He aims to bring neuroscience to underserved communities through portable, affordable, and non-invasive methods.
Dr. Gobbi challenges the global drug-development system, stating that promising treatments for mental illness are failing to reach patients due to venture capital and profit motives. Her research focuses on cannabis, melatonin, and psychedelics, with a goal of improving public-health decisions and treatment outcomes.
Emerging research across conceptual frameworks, biomarker science, digital phenotyping, and artificial intelligence synthesizes a translational pathway toward a more biologically grounded and clinically useful approach to psychiatric diagnosis. The current system falls short due to standardized clinical language and lack of biological ...
Researchers mapped GLP-1 expression in 25 brain regions in each sex, uncovering striking differences in key circuits. The atlas reveals sex-biased expression in certain medullary nuclei, with higher Glp1 densities and numbers of Glp1-expressing neurons in females compared to males.
A new study found that voluntary exercise reshapes the gut microbiota, leading to changes in tryptophan metabolism and serotonin signaling. Exercise decreased the relative abundance of certain bacterial genera, shifting neuroactive signaling and lowering a key receptor in the memory center of the brain.
A mini-review synthesizes large-scale genomic findings to illuminate the polygenic architecture underlying common epilepsies. Rare genetic variants contribute to epilepsy risk, with shared biological pathways involving ion channel function and synaptic excitability
A massive Swedish study of over 2 million individuals reveals that genetic risk for mental illness is far less disorder-specific than clinicians have assumed. Schizophrenia shows the highest genetic specificity, while drug use disorder has a much lower specificity, scattering its genetic risk across multiple conditions.
Dr. Ronald C. Kessler's decades-long research transformed international understanding of psychiatric disorders and suicide prevention. His work exposes the global scope of mental health challenges and highlights key factors in prevention.
Researchers found that psilocybin reduced novelty-seeking in control mice, but heightened it in anorexia model mice. Inflammation levels were also altered, contradicting expectations based on human studies. The study's findings have implications for understanding anorexia nervosa and the potential therapeutic effects of psychedelics.
Dr. Noritaka Ichinohe challenges the long-held assumption that averaging away individual differences is necessary in psychiatric research. Instead, biological heterogeneity is seen as a phenomenon demanding explanation. The author's work on primate brain mapping and molecular subtyping has identified convergence points between species ...
A recent genomic study by Dr. Mayana Zatz and colleagues reveals that Brazil's admixed population may hold the key to understanding exceptional aging. The study identifies over 8 million novel genetic variants in the Brazilian population, with potential protective mechanisms against age-related diseases.
Researchers at Flinders University discover a genetic mutation that silences a brain receptor, rendering it unresponsive to both natural trace amines and clinical drug candidates. The C182F variant eliminates receptor signaling and reduces cell surface expression, with profound implications for emerging psychiatric treatments.
A comprehensive review synthesizes emerging evidence on AMPKα isoforms' dual roles in Alzheimer's disease. The analysis proposes that this complexity may explain why pharmacological approaches have yielded mixed results in treating the disease. Isoform-specific targeting is proposed as a novel therapeutic strategy.
A comprehensive genetic investigation by Dr. Feng Liu and collaborators identifies shared genetic loci between schizophrenia and osteoporosis, suggesting overlapping biological pathways. The study found that psychiatric patients face elevated fracture risks due to these molecular connections.
Dr. Maria Margarita Behrens' work deciphers the molecular signatures defining every human brain cell type, shedding light on neural development and psychiatric disorders. Her single-cell epigenomic atlases will enable researchers to target specific cell types with unprecedented precision.
Professor Dan Stein was a visionary who bridged neuroscience, clinical care, and philosophy to transform psychiatric research in Africa. His integrative approach produced scholarship of extraordinary range, with over 1,600 peer-reviewed publications and a Google Scholar h-index exceeding 220.
A comprehensive review reveals tau protein plays essential roles in brain functions while driving neurodegeneration and psychopathology. Tau deficiency enhances insulin secretion, normalizing glucose levels in diabetic mouse models.
Dr. Eric J. Nestler's research has fundamentally reshaped global understanding of addiction and depression by focusing on resilience rather than pathology. His laboratory identified distinct molecular, cellular, and circuit changes in resilient brains that maintain normal behavioral function despite exposure to drugs or stress.
Dr. Paul Lucassen's research on adult neurogenesis reveals the link between early life experiences, lifestyle factors, and depression/dementia risk. His work has implications for therapeutic approaches to brain health and disease.
Researchers argue that widely used proxies for aging may conflate genuine modifications with simpler effects on physiology. Targeting specific pathologies can extend lifespan without slowing aging process. Historically, increased human lifespan was primarily driven by reduced infectious disease mortality, not a fundamental slowing of a...
Researchers discovered that brain enzyme OTULIN regulates tau protein accumulation and has implications for treating neurodegenerative diseases. The study revealed OTULIN's role in controlling gene expression and RNA metabolism, suggesting a potential therapeutic target.
A recent landmark study identifies adenosine as the critical mediator of rapid antidepressant action, connecting ketamine, ECT, and hypoxia. The discovery raises questions about the potential interference of caffeine with these treatments, highlighting the need for further research on adenosinergic modulation in depression.
A comprehensive review synthesizes current insights into the intricate connections between gut microbiota and sleep regulation, highlighting the crucial role of peripheral organs in modulating brain function and behavior. Disruptions in gut microbiota composition are closely linked to sleep disturbances across multiple disorders.
Researchers have discovered that stress hormones can silence crucial neuronal genes by interacting with long noncoding RNAs and the polycomb repressive complex 2. This mechanism may provide a new understanding of how stress affects gene expression, particularly in relation to synaptic function and calcium signaling.
A systematic review synthesizes clinical and preclinical evidence on psilocybin's effects on obsessive-compulsive behaviours, revealing consistent anti-compulsive effects in human patients and validated animal models. Single doses of psilocybin led to rapid symptom reductions in clinical populations.
A comprehensive review of emerging neuromodulation techniques reveals their potential to treat treatment-resistant OCD. Targeting abnormal brain activity, these methods aim to normalize circuits underlying decision-making and emotion regulation.
Psychedelic substances profoundly alter our perception of time, inducing temporal distortions that offer unprecedented insights into consciousness. By suppressing the default mode network and modulating multiple brain regions, psychedelics provide unique windows into brain function and mental health treatment.
A significant genetic correlation has been identified between childhood cognitive function and parental longevity, providing molecular evidence for the connection. The study found that shared genetic factors influence both early cognitive abilities and lifespan, with a genetic correlation of 0.35.
Researchers found that voluntary running exercise mitigates cafeteria diet-induced behavioral changes via hormonal and microbial pathways. The study revealed specific metabolites, such as anserine and indole-3-carboxylate, were decreased by the cafeteria diet but partially restored by exercise.
Researchers identified a genetic inflammatory signature that defines specific depression subtypes and influences antidepressant outcomes. Higher CRP polygenic scores were associated with reduced weight and appetite loss, earlier age of onset, and lower employment status after treatment.
Research synthesizes current evidence on psychedelic therapy's potential to fundamentally alter treatment paradigms for depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Chronic stress contributes significantly to psychiatric illness worldwide, leaving traditional treatments with residual symptoms or side effects.
The review synthesizes clinical evidence on MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), autism spectrum disorder, eating disorders, and existential distress. It identifies consistent patterns across diverse clinical applications and highlights the therapeutic potential of MDMA, including its oxytocin-mediated ...
Dr. Amin's transformative insights reshape international understanding of depression genetics, identifying novel therapeutic targets and biomarkers for diagnosis and treatment. Her systemic disease model challenges traditional views of depression as a brain disorder.