Depression

Anything you can do I can do better: Neuromolecular foundations of the superiority illusion (Update)

(Medical Xpress)—The existential psychologist Rollo May wrote that "depression is the inability to construct a future"1 while Lionel Tiger stated that "optimism has been central to the process of human e ...

Neuroscience created Apr 02, 2013 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (11) | comments 5 | with audio podcast feature

Multiple research teams unable to confirm high-profile Alzheimer's study

Teams of highly respected Alzheimer's researchers failed to replicate what appeared to be breakthrough results for the treatment of this brain disease when they were published last year in the journal Science.

Alzheimer's disease & dementia created May 23, 2013 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Body clocks of depressed people altered at cell level, researchers show

Every cell in our bodies runs on a 24-hour clock, tuned to the night-day, light-dark cycles that have ruled us since the dawn of humanity. The brain acts as timekeeper, keeping the cellular clock in sync ...

Medical research created May 13, 2013 | popularity 4 / 5 (19) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

If you can't beat them, join them: Grandmother cells revisited

(Medical Xpress)—In the absence of any real progress in defining neuronal codes for the brain, the simple idea of the grandmother cell continues to percolate through the scientific and popular literature. Many r ...

Neuroscience created May 10, 2013 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast report

Effects of stress on brain cells offer clues to new anti-depressant drugs

Research from King's College London reveals the detailed mechanism behind how stress hormones reduce the number of new brain cells - a process considered to be linked to depression. The researchers identified a key protein ...

Neuroscience created May 06, 2013 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Genetic mutation linked with typical form of migraine

A research team led by a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at the University of California, San Francisco has identified a genetic mutation that is strongly associated with a typical form of migraine.

Genetics created May 01, 2013 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Missing link in Parkinson's disease found

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have described a missing link in understanding how damage to the body's cellular power plants leads to Parkinson's disease and, perhaps ...

Medical research created Apr 25, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Embryonic stem cell transplant restores memory, learning in mice

For the first time, human embryonic stem cells have been transformed into nerve cells that helped mice regain the ability to learn and remember. A study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is the first ...

Medical research created Apr 21, 2013 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (8) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

Why some stress is good for you? Acute stress primes the brain to do better on memory tasks two weeks later

(Medical Xpress)—Overworked and stressed out? Look on the bright side. Some stress is good for you.

Neuroscience created Apr 16, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Tiny wireless injectable LED device shines light on mouse brain, generating reward

Using a miniature electronic device implanted in the brain, scientists have tapped into the internal reward system of mice, prodding neurons to release dopamine, a chemical associated with pleasure.

Neuroscience created Apr 11, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Depression stems from miscommunication between brain cells, study shows

A new study from the University of Maryland School of Medicine suggests that depression results from a disturbance in the ability of brain cells to communicate with each other. The study indicates a major ...

Neuroscience created Mar 18, 2013 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (29) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

Hormone levels may provide key to understanding psychological disorders in women

Women at a particular stage in their monthly menstrual cycle may be more vulnerable to some of the psychological side-effects associated with stressful experiences, according to a study from UCL.

Psychology & Psychiatry created May 24, 2013 | popularity 4 / 5 (4) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Depression raises diabetics' risk of severe low blood sugar episodes

(Medical Xpress)—Patients with diabetes who are depressed are much more likely to develop episodes of dangerously low blood sugars, or hypoglycemia, than are those who are not depressed, a new study has ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created May 24, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Depression linked to telomere enzyme, aging, chronic disease

(Medical Xpress)—The first symptoms of major depression may be behavioral, but the common mental illness is based in biology—and not limited to the brain.

Psychology & Psychiatry created May 23, 2013 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (9) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Having both migraines, depression may mean smaller brain

(HealthDay)—Migraines and depression can each cause a great deal of suffering, but new research indicates the combination of the two may be linked to something else entirely—a smaller brain.

Neuroscience created May 22, 2013 | popularity 4 / 5 (4) | comments 2 | with audio podcast


Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless. They may lose interest in activities that once were pleasurable, experience loss of appetite or overeating, or problems concentrating, remembering details or making decisions; and may contemplate or attempt suicide. Insomnia, excessive sleeping, fatigue, loss of energy, or aches, pains or digestive problems that are resistant to treatment may be present.

Depressed mood is a normal reaction to certain life events, a symptom of some medical conditions (e.g., Addison's disease, hypothyroidism), various medical treatments (e.g., hepatitis C drug therapy), and a feature of certain psychiatric syndromes.

This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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