Mental Health

Share on Pinterest A new study explores how ketamine could dial up 'background noise' in the brain, leading to psychosis. Image credit: GiorgioMagini/Getty Images Researchers investigated whether ketamine may induce changes in the brain that are similar to psychosis. They found that ketamine increases background noise, which may interfere with how the brain processes sensory signals. The researchers conducted their study on rats, meaning that further research is needed to see how the findings may apply to humans. Schizophrenia is characterized by changes in how a person perceives reality, including experiencing persistent delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized thinking. The condition affects around 24 million people globally. The exact cause of schizophrenia remains unknown. However, studies suggest that the condition may arise from environmental, psychological, and genetic factors. A drug known as ketamine induces a mental state similar to psychosis in healthy individual...

Your friend recently bought a new car on a whim and announced he was leaving on a cross-country trip without planning a destination or duration. Now you discover he's uninterested in any activity and doesn't want to leave home. The spontaneous actions followed by inactivity could be a sign of a mental health condition called bipolar disorder. Previously known as manic depression, bipolar disorder causes extreme mood swings of emotional highs and lows called episodes. The highs create a mania or hypomania state with euphoria and energy. A hypomania state is a less extreme mood shift than mania. The lows cause depression, sadness and hopelessness. Types of bipolar disorder The type of bipolar disorder is diagnosed based on the occurrence of mania, hypomania and depressive episodes. People with bipolar I disorder have had at least one manic episode preceded, or followed by hypomanic or major depressive episodes. Bipolar II disorder is a separate diagnosis and is not a mi...

This new treatment provides adults living with schizophrenia a long-acting formulation that offers flexible 1- and 2-month dosing intervals 1 In a Phase 3 clinical trial, UZEDY demonstrated up to 80% reduction in risk of schizophrenia relapse versus placebo 1 UZEDY is a subcutaneous injection from a pre-filled syringe with a 21-gauge needle PARSIPPANY, N.J. & TEL AVIV & PARIS, April 29, 2023 --(BUSINESS WIRE)--Teva Pharmaceuticals, a U.S. affiliate of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE and TASE: TEVA), and MedinCell (Euronext: MEDCL) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved UZEDY (risperidone) extended-release injectable suspension for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults. UZEDY is the first subcutaneous, long-acting formulation of risperidone that utilizes SteadyTeq™, a copolymer technology proprietary to MedinCell that controls the steady release of risperidone. Therapeutic blood concentrations are reached within 6-24 ho...

Psychiatric medicine is on the cusp of a new era of more precise and effective diagnosis and treatment. With its launch earlier this week of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center for Precision Psychiatry and Mental Health, Columbia University is combining its strengths in neuroscience research and clinical innovation to hasten the arrival of this next generation of psychiatric diagnosis, treatment and care.  To learn more about the new center and what precision psychiatry could mean for us all, we caught up with Dr. Joseph Gogos, MD, PhD, a co-director of the new center whose own research has focused on the biological basis of schizophrenia. His codirectors are Drs. Sander Markx and Steven Kushner, both physician-scientists in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia's Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and New York State Psychiatric Institute. Dr. Gogos is also a principal investigator at Columbia's Zuckerman Institute and a professor of physiology &amp...

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Big Brothers Big Sister of El Paso is helping the community address youth mental health concerns, and help enhance mental health awareness. Youth Mental Health First Aid is a beneficial program for teachers, school staff, coaches, parents, and adults who work with youth. The program is designed to teach how to help children and teens who may be experiencing a mental health crisis, or other challenges in life. You learn risk factors and warning signs for mental health and where to turn for help. The mental health first aid program is available on Zoom for training and also in-person as well for companies and individuals interested. You can register here: https://www.bbbsep.org/mental-health/ BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION KVIA ABC 7 is committed to providing a forum for civil and constructive conversation. Please keep your comments respectful and r...

Evolving the meaning of hallucinations and delusions Psychology Today :  Awais Aftab , clinical professor of psychiatry at the School of Medicine, said the understanding of hallucinations and delusions has evolved and radically shifted in psychiatry over the past century. "While they are associated in the popular imagination with schizophrenia, they occur across a wide range of psychiatric disorders, including mood episodes such as mania and depression, postpartum psychosis, substance-induced psychosis, brief psychotic disorder, delirium," he said. Adblock test (Why?)

Abstract Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) has heterogeneous manifestations, leading to difficulties in predicting the evolution of the disease and in patient's follow-up. We aimed to develop a machine learning algorithm that identifies a biosignature to provide a clinical score of depressive symptoms using individual physiological data. We performed a prospective, multicenter clinical trial where outpatients diagnosed with MDD were enrolled and wore a passive monitoring device constantly for 6 months. A total of 101 physiological measures related to physical activity, heart rate, heart rate variability, breathing rate, and sleep were acquired. For each patient, the algorithm was trained on daily physiological features over the first 3 months as well as corresponding standardized clinical evaluations performed at baseline and months 1, 2 and 3. The ability of the algorithm to predict the patient's clinical state was tested using the data from the remaining 3...

Adding normal PLXNB1 into the patient's cells allowed the neurites to grow to normal size, confirming the mutation in PLXNB1 caused the changes in neurite growth. "This is super exciting," says Shcheglovitov. "This suggests that, potentially, using gene-based therapy, or another treatment that targets the PLXNB1 pathway, could be therapeutically relevant for patients with pediatric bipolar disorder." Before the results can lead to new therapies, researchers will need to conduct larger studies to determine whether other people with this disorder share these same differences. The power of this study, Lopez-Larson says, was combining multiple technologies to create a robust picture of what's happening in the brain. "The fMRI showed that the brain connections are atypical, at least in this particular child. And we also found that was true with the genetic piece as well," Lopez-Larson says. "We were able to use different kinds of advanced t...

Minerva Neurosciences ( NASDAQ:NERV ) is set to report data from multiple clinical trials in 2019 but roluperidone, which NERV is developing as a treatment for the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, is likely to get a disproportionate amount of attention. NERV and others developing in the negative symptoms space are quick to note that there is no FDA approved therapy specifically for the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Despite that, if successful, roluperidone could still face some competition from off-label use of existing antipsychotics and eventually new antipsychotics which are also currently in development. This article takes a look at that competition. Roluperidone (MIN-101) and the competition NERV's sole Phase 3 trial is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of roluperidone in adults with negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Of the five catalysts ahead in 2019, this study, which is expected to produce top line data in mid-2019, is the most important for...