Psychiatry News and Research

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Psychiatry is the treatment, study and prevention of mental disorders.

New Genetic Insights From Long Read Sequencing in a Teen With Complex Psychiatric Conditions

In a manuscript published today in the American Journal of Psychiatry titled Long-Read Genome Sequencing in Clinical Psychiatry: RFX3 Haploinsufficiency in a Hospitalized Adolescent With Autism, Intellectual Disability, and Behavioral Decompensation, authors describe how they leveraged long-read genomic sequencing (LRS) to make a genetic diagnosis in a17-year-old male with autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, and acute behavioral decompensation that would not have been possible by standard methods.

12 Apr 2025

MitoBrainMap Unlocks Secrets of Brain Energy Distribution

Everything the brain does-from storing memories to interpreting sights to regulating emotions-requires energy, all produced by cellular organelles called mitochondria.

28 Mar 2025

Novel Synthetic Antibiotics Against Drug-Resistant Pathogens

Frogs have flourished for hundreds of millions of years, occupying nearly every habitat on Earth, from tropical rainforests to subarctic woodlands.

26 Mar 2025

UCL Study Reveals How Our Brains Simplify Social Interactions

Our brains use basic 'building blocks' of information to keep track of how people interact, enabling us to navigate complex social interactions, finds a new study led by University College London (UCL) researchers.

14 Mar 2025

Study Clarifies Genetic Thresholds for Diagnosing SCA6

The Department of Neurology at Niigata University and National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry has identified pathogenic thresholds for the CAG repeat units (RU) of the CACNA1A gene that causes SCA6.

3 Mar 2025

Mismatch Repair Genes Found to be Key Drivers of Huntington's Disease

A new UCLA Health study has discovered in mouse models that genes associated with repairing mismatched DNA are critical in eliciting damages to neurons that are most vulnerable in Huntington's disease and triggering downstream pathologies and motor impairment, shedding light on disease mechanisms and potential new ways to develop therapies.

12 Feb 2025

New Research Identifies Brain Cells Linked to Alcohol-Induced Insomnia

Alcohol use disorder, which affects over 10% of Americans, can lead to persistent and serious insomnia.

8 Feb 2025

Study Unveils Surprising Cause of Brain Cell Death in Huntington's Disease

Scientists at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Harvard Medical School, and McLean Hospital have discovered a surprising mechanism by which the inherited genetic mutation known to cause Huntington's disease leads to the death of brain cells.

17 Jan 2025

Neuropilin2 Gene Disruption Impacts Brain Circuitry in Autism and Epilepsy

The gene neuropilin2 encodes a receptor involved in cell-cell interactions in the brain and plays a key role in regulating the development of neural circuits.

10 Jan 2025

New Insights into How Early Life Experiences Influence Genetic Expression and Brain Health

In a comprehensive Genomic Press Interview, renowned neuroscientist Dr. Michael Meaney reveals pivotal discoveries about the intricate relationship between genes and environment in shaping brain health.

2 Jan 2025

Bumetanide Treatment Alters Early and Late Social Behaviors in Fragile X Mice

In a comprehensive Genomic Press Interview, researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and Hirosaki University have uncovered critical new insights into the developmental trajectory of social behaviors in fragile X syndrome, the leading genetic cause of autism spectrum disorder.

30 Dec 2024

Dopamine and Serotonin Act as Opposing Forces in Learning and Reward

If you've heard of two of the brain's chemical neurotransmitters, it's probably dopamine and serotonin. Never mind that glutamate and GABA do most of the work -; it's the thrill of dopamine as the "pleasure chemical" and serotonin as tender mood-stabilizer that attract all the headlines.

26 Nov 2024

Rutgers Researchers Uncover How Brain Cells Form Functional Networks

Rutgers researchers at the Brain Health Institute (BHI) and Center for Advanced Human Brain Imaging Research (CAHBIR) have uncovered how different types of brain cells work together to form large-scale functional networks in the human brain – interconnected systems that support everything from sensory processing to complex decision-making – paving the way for new insights into brain health and disease.

23 Nov 2024

New Study Links Cannabis Use to DNA Methylation Changes in Mental Health Pathways

Research reveals that frequent high-potency cannabis use alters DNA methylation, affecting mitochondrial and immune genes, with implications for mental health.

25 Oct 2024

Personalized Mini-Brains Provide Insight into Autism Spectrum Disorder

Using stem cells generated from patients with a rare and severe form of autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability, Scripps Research scientists have grown personalized "mini-brains" (or organoids) to study the disorder in new detail.

24 Oct 2024

Unraveling the Genetic Blueprint of the Deep Brain

Researchers have discovered 254 genetic variations that influence important “deep brain” structures, such as those that govern memory, motor skills, addictive behaviors, and more, in one of the biggest-ever investigations of DNA and brain volume.

22 Oct 2024

High Potency Cannabis Leaves Unique DNA Signature, Study Shows

Published in Molecular Psychiatry, this is the first study to suggest that the use of high potency cannabis leaves a distinct mark on DNA, providing valuable insights into the biological impact of cannabis use.

16 Oct 2024

New Tool START Enables Precision Mapping of Neuronal Connectivity

Scientists at the Salk Institute are unveiling a new brain-mapping neurotechnology called Single Transcriptome Assisted Rabies Tracing (START). The cutting-edge tool combines two advanced technologies-;monosynaptic rabies virus tracing and single-cell transcriptomics-;to map the brain's intricate neuronal connections with unparalleled precision.

1 Oct 2024

Bipolar Disorder and Epilepsy Share Genetic Roots

A team of researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences has uncovered compelling evidence of a genetic link between bipolar disorder type I (BD-I) and epilepsy, potentially revolutionizing our understanding of these complex neuropsychiatric conditions.

1 Oct 2024

Research Reveals How the Brain Encodes Time and Experiences at the Neuronal Level

A landmark study led by UCLA Health has begun to unravel one of the fundamental mysteries in neuroscience – how the human brain encodes and makes sense of the flow of time and experiences.

26 Sep 2024