Psychedelics are evolutionarily ancient compounds produced by fungi, plants, and microbes. Humans also synthesize psychedelics. Researchers want to know how and why.
After injecting moderate doses of the dissociative anesthetic into the animals, previously “awake” brain cells go dark, and those that had been dormant suddenly light up.
Alejandra Manjarrez, PhD | Nov 1, 2022 | 3 min read
A jolt of norepinephrine in the mouse gut facilitates colonization by certain microbes, which in turn deplete glycine, enhancing cocaine-induced behaviors.
The largest study of its kind identifies single nucleotide polymorphisms with disparate effects on men’s and women’s susceptibility to conditions such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Absence of human contact is associated with declines in cognitive function. But as the COVID-19 pandemic brings concerns about the potential harms of isolation to the fore, researchers are still hunting for concrete evidence of a causal role as well as possible mechanisms.
A meta-analysis of more than 80 studies from the past four decades finds weak evidence to support the use of medicinal cannabis to treat anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders.
The effects of the therapy in a small group of patients were long-lasting, researchers say, adding to evidence that the approach works for treatment-resistant depression.
The PsychENCODE project delves into the DNA, RNA, and protein changes related to brain development and neuropsychiatric disorders, but researchers caution it’s just a first step toward treatment.
In the largest-ever study of its kind, researchers combined genomic data from nearly 900,000 patients and healthy individuals to identify commonalities among 10 mental illnesses.
Transcriptional profiling of post-mortem human brains reveals commonalities in the genes over- and under-expressed in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism, and major depression.