Suicide is UK’s leading, and silent, cause of death for young people aged 20-34 years. Rona Strawbridge, UKRI Innovation, has used the population genomic data from the UK Biobank in an effort to find the genetic association of psychological condition phenotypes such as depression. She will be discussing her work at the upcoming Festival of Genomics. […]
Targeting the immune cells in the brain could slow down the onset of Altzheimer’s, a new study has shown. The build-up of tau protein in the brain can be indicative many neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s. Once the tau starts to clump together, tissue damage begins to become visible. However, until recently the link between protein […]
Anxiety is a serious mental disorder characterized by panic attacks and a strong emotional response to stress. It can be initiated by stressful life events, such as bereavement, divorce and conflict. It is known that some people are more susceptible to anxiety than others, as not all who experience stressful life events necessarily experience anxiety. […]
Being left-handed could be down to differences in brain architecture, a new study has shown. Only 10% of the population are left-handed, as has been the case for thousands of years, but previous studies have struggled to identify the reasons behind this. Using data from the UK Biobank, the genomes of 400,000 people, including 38,332 […]
Higher levels of environmental pollution correlate with higher incidences of a range of mental disorders, a new study has identified. The researchers looked at populations in both the US and Denmark. In the US study, the levels of environmental pollution were determined from air, water and land quality measurements, in addition to population density and […]
An Alzheimer’s drug that is used to slow cognitive decline can reverse the brain damage caused by teenage drinking, shows a new rat-based study. Adolescent brains are more susceptible to alcohol damage than adult brains. Excessive teenage drinking reduces the formation of neurons in the hippocampus which impairs learning and memory. The damage can also […]
Alzheimer’s has previously been understood to be caused by a build up of protein plaques in the brain. However, new research has revealed that alternative metabolic pathways in the brain may be more integral to the formation of the disease. The plaques are formed by proteins known as beta-amyloid and tau. As Alzheimer’s progresses the […]
Scientists have developed minimally invasive brain probes that can selectively deliver drugs in-vivo and stimulate cells with light. The probes can be wirelessly controlled from a smartphone. It is hoped that the probes will advance understanding of neurodegenerative disease by allowing the manipulation of brain circuits. Delivering drug infusions into the brain has previously been […]
A gene discovery has explained why current Alzheimer’s drugs don’t work for lots of patients, and why so many new drugs fail in clinical trials. The acetylcholine receptor α7nAChR has long been a target of interest for Alzheimer’s drugs. The neurotransmitter acetylcholine is involved in memory and learning processes. Despite acetylcholine being linked to the […]
Scientists have genetically engineered neurons in mice to give them hallucinations. The research could help identify why certain people experience hallucinations, associated with several mental illnesses, and inform new treatments. Two genes were inserted into the neuron cells of the mice’s visual cortex, the part of the brain that processes visual information. One coded for […]
A new genetic study has revealed anorexia, previously thought to be solely a psychiatric disease, is influenced by metabolic factors. Anorexia is an eating disorder and a serious mental health condition. Sufferers try to keep their weight as low as possible by eating as little as possible or exercising as much as they can. Sufferers […]
A genetic variant has been found to increase an individual’s tendency to procrastinate, the act of delaying an essential task in favour of easier and less vital ones. Procrastination can harm productivity in both the workplace and everyday life. It can also negatively affect physical and mental health. However, if you are getting frustrated at […]
Patients with a certain genetic variant have been found to both be more pre-disposed to anxiety and depression and have lower susceptibility to the usual medication. Although anxiety and depression can be developed due to distressing events or stressful periods in a person’s life, there is increasing evidence that some people are more predisposed to […]
Indiana University School of Medicine researchers have found blood-based genetic markets of psychological stress which could lead to better diagnostics for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and bring forward new drug development leads.
Pharmacogenetic tests are marketed as an aid to psychiatrists in selecting the antidepressant or antipsychotic medication that will work best in individual patients. But for most patients, these pharmacogenetic tests don’t provide much useful information.
