Hearing voices that other people can’t is a meaningful experience. Like dreams, they can usually be understood in terms of one’s life experiences. Within mental health services, however, the prevailing medical model means some practitioners pay attention only to their presence, not their meaning. Psychiatry’s diagnostic bibles, the American DSM-5 and the World Health Organisation’s…
Category: Psychology
Communication In Children With Autism Helped By Folinic Acid
Folinic acid, a reduced form of a B vitamin known as folate, could help improve the language and communication skills of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to preliminary findings from a placebo controlled trial. The study, in which children were randomized to receive either high-dose folinic acid or a placebo, also identified a…
Sleep Spindles Reduced In Schizophrenia
A review of the growing body of evidence linking a reduction in sleep spindle activity to schizophrenia suggests that a better understanding of this sleep abnormality’s genetic underpinnings opens the door to new treatments for the psychiatric disorder. Visible on an electroencephalogram (EEG), a device which measures the brain’s electrical activity, sleep spindles are bursts…
Anti-cytokine Drugs Could Help Treat Depression Symptoms
Anti-inflammatory drugs similar to those used to treat conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis could someday be used to treat certain cases of depression, concludes a review led by the University of Cambridge. The finding adds evidence for the involvement of our immune system in mental health disorders. Researchers from the department of psychiatry…
People With Autism Make More Logical Decisions
Decisions are based on the way choices are framed. This is because people use emotion when making decisions, leading to some options feeling more desirable than others. For example, when given £50, we are more likely to gamble the money if we stand to lose £30 than if we are going to keep £20. Although…
Do Antidepressants Really Double Risk Of Suicide?
The Daily Telegraph reports that “Antidepressants could double the risk of feelings that could lead to suicide, according to a new study which has triggered furious rows.” Critics have attacked the study as “fatally flawed” because researchers extrapolated certain side effects, such as anxiety, as being a risk factor for suicide. Researchers carried out an analysis…
Infants Use Prefrontal Cortex In Learning Hierarchical Rules
Given the task of learning simple hierarchical rules, babies appeared to employ much the same circuits as adults doing a similar task, a new study found. The results counter the long held belief that the region of the brain involved in some of the highest forms of cognition and reasoning, the prefrontal cortex (PFC), was…
Electrophysiology Of Emotional Regulation In Mindfulness Investigated
Meditation can help tame your emotions even if you’re not a mindful person, a new study from Michigan State University suggests. Psychology researchers recorded the brain activity of people looking at disturbing pictures immediately after meditating for the first time. These participants were able to tame their negative emotions just as well as participants who…
Nocturnal Hot Flashes May Lead To Mild Depression
A woman’s perception that she is experiencing a high number of nighttime hot flashes can trigger mild symptoms of depression during menopause, according to a new study. Menopause occurs when a woman’s ovaries stop producing estrogen and other hormones, and her menstrual periods stop, according to the Hormone Health Network. The transition takes place gradually,…