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The outcome predictive models were developed in part using data from a large multi-center study. The findings provide strong evidence that the current trial-and-error approach used in clinical practice for the selection of the right antidepressant can be replaced with this new precision medicine approach.

During the initial COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020, a lot of people suddenly became more sedentary as they adhered to stay-at-home orders or opted to self-isolate. Recently published research found people who continued to spend a higher amount of time sitting in the weeks following were likely to have higher symptoms of depression. A closer investigation into this association could play a role in helping people improve their mental health.

Findings provide a putative physiological biomarker of brain state changes that can predict early antidepressant effects.

More than two thirds (65.5%) of students are experiencing poor sleep quality and this is linked to mental health problems, new research suggests.

Researchers show it is possible to improve specific human brain functions related to self-control and mental flexibility by merging artificial intelligence with targeted electrical brain stimulation.

A new review of current literature has found that irregular responses in the brain to challenging tasks and mistakes could be key to understanding common links between abnormal behaviors in a range of mental illness and cognitive disorders.

In women who have experienced trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms may vary over the course of the menstrual cycle, with more symptoms during the first few days of the cycle when the hormone estradiol is low, and fewer symptoms close to ovulation, when estradiol is high, new research finds.

Researchers tested the effectiveness of affordable, interactive robotic pet cats to improve mood, behavior and cognition in older adults with mild to moderate dementia. Mood and behavioral symptoms were measured along with cognition using the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). Intervention with this robotic cat improved all mood scores over time, with significant improvements in mood and depression. More than half of the participants scored higher on the MMSE post-test than pretest, with slight to moderate improvement in attention/calculation, language, and registration. The robotic cats also provided participants with an alternative way to express themselves.

Research on around 386,000 UK adults has found that a high genetic risk for schizophrenia and other mental health conditions, including bipolar disorder, anorexia and autism, is associated with living in and moving to urban areas. In contrast, people with low genetic risk of ADHD preferentially moved from rural/suburban environments to cities.

Research has revealed that the brain employs distinct circuitries that mediate positive, or rewarding, behaviors and negative, or aversive, ones. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has long been thought to arise from overactivity in the negative valence system, however a new study shows that people with PTSD also displayed a deficit in activation of positive valence processing soon after the trauma, suggesting it plays a role in resilience to PTSD.