Monthly Archives: July 2014

According to the authors, bipolar disorder is a severe illness with few treatments available. Understanding the pathophysiology and identifying relevant targets could prove useful for developing new treatments. This article focuses on human studies and reviews evidence of mitochondrial dysfunction … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Targeting mitochondrially mediated plasticity to develop improved therapeutics for bipolar disorder

“Schizophrenia is a highly heritable disorder. Genetic risk is conferred by a large number of alleles, including common alleles of small effect that might be detected by genome-wide association studies.” Here Ripke and colleagues report a multi-stage schizophrenia genome-wide association … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Biological insights from 108 schizophrenia-associated genetic loci

According to Zohar, Nutt and colleagues, “Current psychopharmacological nomenclature remains wedded in an earlier period of scientific understanding, failing to reflect contemporary developments and knowledge, does not aid clinicians in selecting the best medication for a given patient, and tends … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on A proposal for an updated neuropsychopharmacological nomenclature

“This review summarises the evidence that chronic low grade inflammation plays an important role in the pathology of depression. Evidence is provided that pro-inflammatory cytokines, together with dysfunctional endocrine and neurotransmitter systems, provide a network of changes that underlie depression … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Impact of inflammation on neurotransmitter changes in major depression: an insight into the action of antidepressants

“Genome-wide association studies have revolutionized the genetic analysis of multiple sclerosis. Through international collaborative efforts involving tens of thousands of cases and controls, more than 100 associated common variants have now been identified. These variants consistently implicate genes associated with … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Review: Multiple sclerosis genetics

Last autumn, “a top biotechnology research official at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), challenged neuroscientists to do something extraordinary: Develop an implantable device that can restore memory loss in vets with traumatic brain injuries.” Up to $40 million … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on DARPA awards $40 million to restore memories

Multiple infections might increase glial activation and susceptibility to Alzheimer’s disease, according to recent work. Bu and colleagues studied the infectious burden—a composite serological measure of exposure to common pathogens—in 128 patients with Alzheimer’s and 135 healthy controls. The authors … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Multiple infectious burden and Alzheimer’s disease

An analysis of more than 10,000 hospital admittance records has suggested that use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) exacerbates haemorrhagic stroke. Patients previously taking SSRIs were more likely to have severe bleeding during haemorrhagic stroke, and were more likely … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors increase severity and mortality of haemorrhagic stroke