‘Loss of pleasure’ found in teen sleep study

Sleep patterns around the world have been disrupted as screen time increases and sleep routines change with COVID-19 self-isolation requirements. Negative mood is not unusual in adolescence, but lack of sleep can affect mental health, causing anhedonia (or loss of pleasure), anxiety, anger and significantly increasing the risk of depression, a global study of more than 350,000 teens shows.
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Targeting depression: Researchers ID symptom-specific targets for treatment of depression

For the first time, physician-scientists have identified two clusters of depressive symptoms that responded to two distinct neuroanatomical treatment targets in patients who underwent transcranial magnetic brain stimulation (TMS) for treatment of depression. The team's findings shed new light on the brain circuitry underlying specific symptoms of depression and may facilitate personalized TMS therapy for depression and other psychiatric or neurological disorders.
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Neural circuit that drives physical responses to emotional stress found

Researchers have discovered a neural circuit that drives physical responses to emotional stress. Emotional stress signals are processed in the ''emotion'' circuits and integrated in the DP/DTT. The integrated signals are transmitted to the hypothalamus which then drives a variety of physical responses through circuits that control ''body'' functions. The discovered ''mind-body'' connection constitutes a key part of the stress circuit in the brain.
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Natural mood regulation low or even absent in people with depression

Mood varies from hour-to-hour, day-to-day and healthy mood regulation involves choosing activities that help settle one's mood. However, in situations where personal choices of activities are constrained, such as during periods of social isolation and lockdown, this natural mood regulation is impaired which might result in depression. New research suggests a new target for treating and reducing depression is supporting natural mood regulation.
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