Summary: A new study has uncovered a biological link between inflammation and motivational deficits in people with schizophrenia, identifying a promising treatment target for symptoms that current medications fail to address. Higher levels of the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein were associated with reduced activity in brain regions involved in reward and motivation, such as the … Read more
Newborn babies with a vitamin D deficiency have a higher chance of later developing mental disorders such as ADHD, schizophrenia and autism, a major study involving The University of Queensland has found. In the largest population study of its kind, researchers examined vitamin D status of 71,793 people, many of whom had a mental health … Read more
Many women struggle to find resources to help manage their menopause symptoms. For women living with a serious mental illness, the need for additional support and education during the menopause transition is even greater. A new scoping review confirmed the paucity of research on this topic and suggested a need for more psychoeducation programs. Results … Read more
Summary: A new study has found that delusions typically emerge before hallucinations in individuals at high risk for psychosis, overturning a long-standing belief that hallucinations drive delusional thinking. By analyzing symptom progression across three large cohorts, researchers consistently observed that delusions were the earliest symptom, reappearing even before hallucinations during relapses. The study suggests that … Read more
Summary: Researchers have identified changes in brain connectivity before and after puberty that may explain why some children with chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome are more susceptible to autism and schizophrenia. Using brain imaging in both mice and humans, the study found that brain regions involved in social behavior were hyperconnected in childhood but under-connected after … Read more
The Urgent Need for Compassion: Protecting Vulnerable Individuals with Mental Health Conditions Table of Contents The Urgent Need for Compassion: Protecting Vulnerable Individuals with Mental Health Conditions The Impact of Stigma and Harassment Family Efforts and the Limits of Protection Fostering empathy and Understanding Escalating Harassment Reported in Residential Neighborhood Pattern of Disruptive and Damaging … Read more
New guidelines have been developed for the treatment of schizophrenia after a collaboration of international experts from 30 countries. University of Queensland Professor of Psychiatry Dan Siskind said the International Guidelines for Algorithmic Treatment (INTEGRATE) offer a ‘globally relevant’ approach to treating the mental illness. Schizophrenia imposes a significant healthcare burden worldwide with substantial … Read more
Researchers have developed a virtual reality-based system that shows promise in improving the differentiation between common mental health conditions, potentially paving the way for earlier and more personalized treatment. The work is published in the March edition of the peer-reviewed journal European Neuropsychopharmacology, with a subsequent (31 March) comment also being published in the same … Read more
Schizophrenia affects millions worldwide, yet its causes remain one of the greatest medical mysteries. In an exclusive Genomic Press Interview, Dr. Consuelo Walss-Bass, a pioneering researcher in psychiatric genetics, shares how both genetic predisposition and environmental factors contribute to severe mental health disorders. As the John S. Dunn Foundation Distinguished Chair in Psychiatry at UTHealth … Read more
The UPV/EHU study, recently published in the journal Scientific Reports, has analyzed and compared the fatty acids in the blood of individuals with schizophrenia, of those with cannabis use disorder and of those with both diagnoses, with the aim of shedding light on new biomarkers and improving the understanding of the biological relationship between the … Read more