Forget Everything You Know About Diets and Healthy Eating
Science now has an explanation for why many of us try out the latest diet only to find that it is not working. A study published in the journal Cell this week, has demonstrated that different people’s bodies respond to eating the same meal very differently – which means that a diet that may work […]
Read MoreDo Men and Women Experience Depression Differently?
Kenneth Kendler, M.D., a professor in the departments of Psychiatry and Human and Molecular Genetics at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, and colleagues studied 1,057 adult opposite-sex dizygotic twin pairs for the incidence of major depression within a given year, and identified 20 risk factors that may contribute to such incidences. They found that […]
Read MoreL-Dopa Improves Decision-Making In Older Adults
A study published online in Nature Neuroscience has demonstrated that a drug widely used to treat Parkinson’s Disease can help to reverse age-related impairments in decision making in some older people. Researchers from Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging describe the changes in the patterns of brain activity of adults in their seventies that help to […]
Read MoreThe MAOA Gene Predicts Happiness in Women
Research published in Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry demonstrates the association between happiness and monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) genotype. In women, low expression of MAOA was related significantly to greater happiness. In contrast, no such association was found in men. [Read more…]
Read MorePersonalized Medicine in Psychiatry
How close are we to implementing the idea of personalized medicine in psychiatry? Next year the International Congress on Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP) is holding a thematic meeting in April 2013 entitled “Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Medicine in Psychiatry.” An ‘All Star’ plenary faculty, who are some of the leading scientists from around the globe, will initiate discussions […]
Read MoreNew genetic data for the most common subtype of migraine
Researchers studied genetic data of more than 11 000 people and found altogether six genes that predispose to migraine without aura. Four of these genes are new and two of them confirm previous findings. New study published in Nature Genetics. [more…]
Read MoreGene Therapy Shows Promise in Treating Parkinson’s in Humans
A study aimed at the treatment of patients with medically refractory Parkinson’s disease (PD), showed promising phase 2 results for a therapeutic approach to determine the safety and efficacy of AAV-GAD gene transfer into the subthalamic nucleus (STN) region of the brain. The overall goal of this approach is to normalize the activity of the […]
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