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In the past research has shown that the stress reaction in pregnant women can be passed to the fetus along the placenta, and this reaction can have a negative impact on the unborn child after they are born. Some of the symptoms associated with prenatal stress after birth include a low birth weight, a higher susceptibility to illness, and brain development that is poor compared to babies who were not exposed to prenatal stress. A new study shows that these problems can be overcome with sensitive infant care and good parenting. The researchers determined that after birth parenting that is loving and attentive can overcome the prenatal stress exposure and reduce the negative genetic impacts that the prenatal depression in the mother can cause.
Dr. Elisabeth Conradt, an assistant professor at the Department of Psychology at the University of Utah, was one of the researchers who studied sensitive infant care and prenatal depression, discussed the study and stated “We were curious about whether maternal behavior could buffer the child against the effects of maternal depression, and if this buffering could be observed at the level of the infant’s epigenome. Many mothers struggle with depression but interact quite sensitively with their infants. In these instances, the mother may be turning on certain genes that we think allow infants to manage stress in adaptive ways. We are excited about the possibility that this research may lead to specific ways one can effectively intervene with pregnant women at risk for postpartum depression.” Further research may be needed to evaluate the true effectiveness of sensitive infant care and how this care minimizes the prenatal stress exposure in infants.
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A new study from the University of California Davis Health System that involved imaging showed that intense exercise could help fight depression and promote overall better mental health. What researchers found was that two of the critical neurotransmitters that are associated with depression, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate, are boosted by intense exercise and that this can help fight depression. These neurotransmitters are important for good mental health and individuals with depression are usually deficient in these compounds in the brain. The study has been published in the scientific publication The Journal of Neuroscience. Researchers believe that intense exercise could be an important component of treatment for those who suffer from depression or other psychiatric disorders that have been associated with neurotransmitter deficiencies in the brain.
The study in intense exercise and depression showed that a deficiency in neurotransmitters which drive communications between different brain cells will have an impact on mental, physical, and emotional health. According to Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California Davis Health System professor and lead study author Dr. Richard Maddock “Major depressive disorder is often characterized by depleted glutamate and GABA, which return to normal when mental health is restored. Our study shows that exercise activates the metabolic pathway that replenishes these neurotransmitters.” Maddock went on to say “From a metabolic standpoint, vigorous exercise is the most demanding activity the brain encounters, much more intense than calculus or chess, but nobody knows what happens with all that energy. Apparently, one of the things it’s doing is making more neurotransmitters.”
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When it comes to adolescent treatment for psychotic like symptoms many parents may not know where to turn or which approach to take. A cooperative study by researchers from the University of Helsinki, the Helsinki University Hospital Department of Psychiatry, and the National Institute for Health and Welfare in Finland has found that the best approach for these adolescents is home treatment that is network centered instead of hospital based treatment. The researchers determined that this treatment method offered a similar reduction in the psychotic like symptoms experienced to what was seen in hospital based treatment. In addition the teens who were treated at home and school instead of in a hospital had fewer hopeless and depressed feelings and they were better able to function.
HUH Department of Psychiatry researcher Docent Niklas Granö, Ph.D., explained the findings on adolescent treatment for psychotic like symptoms. Dr. Granö stated “The improved ability to function observed in the network-centered early intervention group is crucial, since this is usually a major challenge for people with psychotic-like symptoms. A poor ability to function makes it difficult to cope with everyday tasks and keep up with one’s peers. This is particularly true of those with psychotic-like symptoms or full-blown psychosis.” Granö went on to say “When young people receive real support with things that weigh on them and cause them stress, their mood lightens, their ability to function improves, feelings of hopelessness wane, and their recovery speeds up. The advantage of the early intervention method tested in this study is that its implementation does not require new resources, only reforms to old practices.”
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A recent scientific review explored available evidence to evaluate whether common bipolar medications can help to restore normal brain function, and this review was made possible thanks to the last two decades of MRI acquisition and analysis advancements. These advancements make it possible for researchers to identify the neuroanatomical abnormalities which can be found in a number of mental disorders. The researchers who performed the review evaluated the effect of the most common bipolar medications on the brain of individuals with bipolar disorder. These medications included antidepressants, lithium, anti psychotics, and mood stabilizers. People who have bipolar disorder are typically treated with drugs that help stabilize mood. During episodes of mania or depression the individual is usually given antidepressant or anti psychotic drugs as well, depending on whether the patient is displaying depression or mania.
Past studies and MRI analysis efforts have shown that patients who need bipolar medications because they have this disorder also tend to have deficits in the volume of gray matter in the brain. This is especially true in brain areas that are associated with mood regulation Previous research has also shown that this specific mental disorder also has associations with white matter disorganization in certain areas. The latest analysis showed that bipolar medications did seem to restore more normal brain function and brain anatomy. Some of the evidence evaluated showed that lithium and other mood stabilizers are associated with an increase in the volume of gray matter. This latest review is very promising and it means that bipolar medications may not only treat the symptoms of this disorder but also work at treating the cause as well.
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A majority of children who have symptoms of ADHD tend to see their symptoms slowly lessen as they get older but this is not always the case, and when these symptoms persist as the child grows older one cause may be parental criticism according to the latest research study. Lead study author and Florida International University assistant professor of psychology Erica Musser, Ph.D. said “Why ADHD symptoms decline in some children as they reach adolescence and not for others is an important phenomenon to be better understood. The finding here is that children with ADHD whose parents regularly expressed high levels of criticism over time were less likely to experience this decline in symptoms.” The results of the study were published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology.
The recent study on parental criticism and persistent symptoms of ADHD shows that there is a link but this does not mean that causation is shown by the study results. According to Dr. Musser “The novel finding here is that children with ADHD whose families continued to express high levels of criticism over time failed to experience the usual decline in symptoms with age and instead maintained persistent, high levels of ADHD symptoms. “We cannot say, from our data, that criticism is the cause of the sustained symptoms. Interventions to reduce parental criticism could lead to a reduction in ADHD symptoms, but other efforts to improve the severe symptoms of children with ADHD could also lead to a reduction in parental criticism, creating greater well-being in the family over time.”
