Depression
Depression and Cognitive Problems Not Necessarily Associated
Many clinicians believe that depression goes hand in hand with cognitive difficulties such as memory problems or difficulties concentrating and paying attention, but a recent review of nearly 20 years of literature conducted by researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center has found that depression does not always lead to such impairments.
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Depressed People More Likely to Feel Gray, Not Blue
People with anxiety and depression are most likely to use a shade of gray to represent their mental state. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Medical Research Methodology describe the development of a color chart, The Manchester Color Wheel, which can be used to study people’s preferred pigment in relation to their state of mind.
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Depression in Pregnancy Linked to Children’s Antisocial and Violent Behavior
Children from urban areas whose mothers suffered from depression during pregnancy are more likely than others to show antisocial and violent behavior later in life. Furthermore, women who are aggressive and disruptive in their own teen years are more likely to become depressed in pregnancy, so that the mothers’ history predicts their own children’s antisocial behavior. These are the conclusions of a new longitudinal study conducted by researchers at Cardiff University, King’s College London, and the University of Bristol. The research appears in the January/February 2010 issue of the journal Child Development.
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New Compound Could Become Important Antidepressant
Chemists at Oregon State University have discovered and synthesized a new compound that in laboratory and animal tests appears to be similar to, but may have advantages over, one of the most important antidepressant medications in the world. A patent has been applied for on the compound, and findings on it published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. Continued animal studies and human clinical trials will be necessary before the compound could be approved for human medical use, researchers say.
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Brain Stimulation May be More Effective Than Antidepressants
For those who are dealing with debilitating depression, antidepressants are meant to provide relief. Recent research, however, has identified that more than one third of patients with depression may not be achieving a satisfactory response from their medication.
A recent post in Science Daily shows that deep brain stimulation (DBS), a form of targeted electrical stimulation in the brain, is undergoing careful testing to determine the role it could play in the treatment of patients who have not sufficiently improved during more traditional forms of treatment.
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Excessive Internet Use Linked to Depression
People who spend a great deal of time browsing the Internet are more likely to show depressive symptoms, according to the first large-scale study of its kind in the West by University of Leeds psychologists. The researchers found striking evidence that some users have developed a compulsive Internet habit, whereby they replace real-life social interaction with online chat rooms and social networking sites. The results suggest that this type of addictive surfing can have a serious impact on mental health.
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Study Finds Genetic Mutations Associated with Suicide Risk among Depressed Patients
A new report reveals that single mutations in genes involved with nerve cell formation and growth appear to be associated with the risk of attempting suicide among individuals with depression. The study will appear in the April print issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
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Stimulating the Brain’s Pleasure Center to Treat Depression
Even with the best of available treatments, over a third of patients with depression may not achieve a satisfactory antidepressant response. Deep brain stimulation (DBS), a form of targeted electrical stimulation in the brain via implanted electrodes, is now undergoing careful testing to determine whether it could play a role in the treatment of patients who have not sufficiently improved during more traditional forms of treatment.
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Excess Serotonin Receptors May Explain Why Antidepressants Don’t Work for Some Patients
An excess of one type of serotonin receptor in the center of the brain may explain why antidepressants fail to relieve symptoms of depression for 50 percent of patients, a new study from researchers at Columbia University Medical Center shows. The study is the first to find a causal link between receptor number and antidepressant treatment and may lead to more personalized treatment for depression, including treatments for patients who do not respond to antidepressants and ways to identify these patients before they undergo costly and ultimately futile therapies.
Deep Brain Stimulation Successfully Treats Severe Depression
A team of neurosurgeons at Heidelberg University Hospital and psychiatrists at the Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim have (for the first time) successfully treated a patient suffering from severe depression by stimulating the habenula, a tiny nerve structure in the brain. The 64-year-old woman, who had suffered from depression since age 18, could not be helped by medication or electroconvulsive therapy. Since the procedure, she is free of symptoms for the first time in years.
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