Old Injuries Rewire the Brain to Feel Fear and Pain ForeverA new study reveals that even after healing, injuries can leave behind a hypersensitive nervous system that overreacts to future stress. Mice previously injured showed intense fear and renewed pain when exposed to a predator scent, despite no new harm.Read More
Intense Grief Can Raise Your Risk of Death by Nearly 90%Summary: While grief is a natural part of loss, some people experience...Read More
What Drives Women to Kill? Emotion & Threat, Not PsychopathyWomen who commit lethal violence rarely display psychopathy, instead acting out of provocation and perceived threats. A 15-year Swedish study of 175 cases found that about half of the women had a severe mental disorder, and these women showed slightly more short-term planning but still high emotional arousal.Read More
Emotional Pain Brain Circuit Drives Cocaine RelapseA new study reveals that a brain circuit driving negative emotions during cocaine withdrawal plays a key role in relapse. Researchers found that this “anti-reward” network becomes hyperactive during abstinence, amplifying distress and pushing users back toward the drug.Read More
Tobacco Use Linked to Higher Depression and AnxietyAdolescents who use e-cigarettes or conventional tobacco products are significantly more likely to report symptoms of depression and anxiety than non-users, a new study finds. Researchers analyzed data from over 60,000 U.S. middle and high school students surveyed between 2021 and 2023.Read More
Inflammation Influences Cannabis’s Effects on Anxiety and SleepA new study shows that inflammation levels influence how cannabis affects anxiety and sleep quality. Researchers found no overall change in inflammatory markers after 4 weeks of cannabis use, but baseline inflammation moderated outcomes.Read More
Tickling Strengthens Bonding Through Oxytocin PathwaysA new study reveals how pleasant touch fosters social bonds between humans and rats by activating oxytocin signaling in the brain. Researchers found that repeated tickling of rats increased their vocalizations, preference for human interaction, and oxytocin receptor expression in the VMHvl region.Read More
COVID Stress May Have Aged Brains FasterLiving through the Covid-19 pandemic may have accelerated brain ageing, even in people who were never infected, a new study finds. Brain scans of nearly 1,000 adults showed older, male, and disadvantaged individuals were most affected.Read More
Why the Psychopathic Brain Struggles With Emotion and ControlNew research reveals how structural brain connectivity shapes psychopathic traits and externalizing behaviors. Using advanced connectome modeling, scientists identified two key networks: one tied to impaired emotional processing, the other to poor attentional control.Read More
Most Mental Illnesses Arise Without Family HistoryA massive Danish study shows that most mental illnesses—like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression—occur in people with no close family history of the condition. Analyzing data from over 3 million individuals, researchers found that while heredity increases risk, most diagnosed individuals do not have affected relatives.Read More
Optimists’ Brains “Think Alike” When Imagining the FutureOptimists’ brains show strikingly similar patterns when imagining the future, while pessimists’ brains display more individual variability, a new study reveals. Using fMRI, researchers found that optimists process positive and negative scenarios in distinct, shared ways, which may explain their greater social connectedness.Read More
Autism Masking Leaves a Mark on the BrainSome autistic teens mask their traits to “pass” as non-autistic in social settings, but a new study reveals the hidden cognitive toll. Using EEG, researchers found these teens show faster automatic responses to faces and dampened emotional reactivity, suggesting their brains may adapt to cope with social demands.Read More
FeaturedGeneticsNeurosciencePsychology·July 19, 2025·6 min readGenetic Link Between Cannabis Use Disorder and Mental HealthA large genetic study reveals that cannabis use disorder (CanUD) is strongly linked to increased risk for multiple psychiatric disorders, including depression, PTSD, ADHD, and schizophrenia. By analyzing global and local genetic correlations, colocalization, Mendelian randomization, and structural equation modeling, researchers showed CanUD has distinct genetic signatures compared to casual cannabis use.Read More
FeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·July 19, 2025·6 min readMore Than Serotonin: How Psychedelics Engage the Whole BrainClassical psychedelics like LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline are known for activating the 5-HT2A serotonin receptor, but a new study reveals their effects go far beyond. Researchers profiled 41 psychedelics against over 300 human receptors and found potent activity at serotonin, dopamine, and adrenergic sites.Read More
FeaturedGeneticsNeurosciencePsychology·July 19, 2025·7 min readWhy Antidepressants Work Better for SomeA meta-analysis of gene expression data from humans and rodents reveals key biological pathways influencing response to the antidepressant fluoxetine. The study highlights the role of immune-related pathways, including toll-like receptor signaling, and neural signal transduction mechanisms in distinguishing responders from non-responders.Read More
FeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·July 17, 2025·8 min readOveractive Anterior Insula May Fuel Anxiety and DepressionNew research shows that elevated glutamate-glutamine (Glx) levels in the anterior insular cortex (AIC) make people more sensitive to mistakes and more prone to anxiety and depression. Using functional magnetic resonance spectroscopy and reinforcement learning tasks, scientists found that high AIC Glx predicted both a general internalizing symptom score and heightened error sensitivity, which mediated this relationship.Read More
FeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·July 16, 2025·7 min readDo Supplements Work for Depression? Some Do, Study SaysA comprehensive review of over 23,000 studies identified 64 over-the-counter (OTC) supplements and herbal products evaluated in clinical trials for depression. St John’s Wort, saffron, probiotics, vitamin D, and omega-3s showed the strongest evidence, while others like lavender, zinc, and chamomile showed promise but need more research.Read More
FeaturedGeneticsNeurosciencePsychology·July 21, 2025·7 min readMost Mental Illnesses Arise Without Family HistoryA massive Danish study shows that most mental illnesses—like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression—occur in people with no close family history of the condition. Analyzing data from over 3 million individuals, researchers found that while heredity increases risk, most diagnosed individuals do not have affected relatives.Read More
FeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·July 15, 2025·7 min readHepatitis C Found in Brain Lining Linked to Schizophrenia, Bipolar DisorderResearchers have discovered hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the brain lining of individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, suggesting a possible link between infection and psychiatric symptoms. The study found HCV specifically in the choroid plexus, a structure producing cerebrospinal fluid, but not inside brain tissue itself.Read More
FeaturedGeneticsNeurosciencePsychology·June 3, 2025·4 min readShared Genetic Signatures Found Across Psychiatric DisordersResearchers have uncovered shared biological mechanisms across major psychiatric disorders by analyzing postmortem brain samples from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Instead of looking at gene expression broadly, they zoomed in on the exon level—the building blocks that influence how proteins are made.Read More
FeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·May 22, 2025·4 min readParental Mental Illness Raises Risk of Childhood PsychopathologyA new long-term study confirms that children of parents with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder face a higher risk of developing mental health issues compared to peers without parental psychiatric diagnoses. Over four years, researchers tracked 238 children and found distinct patterns of symptoms depending on whether a parent had schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.Read More
AutismFeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·May 19, 2025·5 min readLow Newborn Vitamin D Linked to Autism and SchizophreniaA large population study has found that babies born with low vitamin D levels are more likely to develop mental disorders like ADHD, schizophrenia, and autism later in life. Researchers analyzed data from over 71,000 individuals, linking neonatal vitamin D deficiency to increased risks of several neurodevelopmental conditions.Read More
