https://medicalxpress.com/psychiatry-news/ en-us Latest medical news and research in Psychiatry Infants born to mothers with depressive symptoms immediately after delivery had a substantially higher risk of dying before their first birthday, according to researchers involved in a Rutgers-led study of more than 414,000 births in New Jersey. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-maternal-postpartum-depressive-symptoms-linked.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 15:40:13 EDT news708871314 Researchers are warning that inconsistent use of the terms "neurodiversity" and "neurodivergence" in mental health research could obscure important differences between diagnoses and make findings harder to interpret. They also say using the terms without further specification could encourage "one-size-fits-all" approaches in clinics, schools and workplaces that can overlook individual care and support needs. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-inconsistent-neurodivergence-language-complicate-patient.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 15:20:01 EDT news708868634 The eyes are more than lenses to the outside world; they can also be windows that offer a glimpse into what's happening inside our bodies. What if the eyes could help us understand how attention shifts from one moment to the next? Scientists are now testing whether tiny changes in pupil size can serve as a physiological marker of these fluctuations in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-children-pupils-reveal-shifting-attention.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 15:10:01 EDT news708875735 A new clinical trial led by researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience has found that exercise has a significant effect on mood and lab-based measures of new brain cell formation in healthy middle-aged participants. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-clinical-physical-trial-mood-neuron.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 14:40:03 EDT news708870541 UTHealth Houston researchers have developed an artificial intelligence system that can perform a mental health evaluation at nearly the same level of accuracy as a team of psychiatrists. The results of their work, done in collaboration with Yale University and published in npj Mental Health Research, bring the team a step closer to deploying the model in educational and clinical settings. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-ai-tool-nears-psychiatrist-accuracy.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 09:20:04 EDT news708853381 Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai found that individuals with bulimia nervosa have structural differences in brain regions involved in reward and motivation, as well as social and sensory processing, and that more frequent binge eating is associated with more widespread differences in brain structure, according to research published today in JAMA Psychiatry. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-binge-widespread-brain-differences-bulimia.html Wed, 16 Sep 2026 17:00:08 EDT news708790201 Stanford Medicine scientists have chalked up a major advance in growing human brain cells outside the human brain—and outside laboratory glassware. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-mice-human-brain-organoids-space.html Wed, 16 Sep 2026 11:40:03 EDT news708775982 UC San Francisco researchers are weighing in on one of the biggest challenges in psychedelic science, arguing that clinical trials need more convincing placebo treatments to better measure the drugs' true effects. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-psychedelic-clinical-trials.html Wed, 16 Sep 2026 11:00:10 EDT news708683883 Understanding and preventing suicide often focuses on why people want to die—but a Yale researcher is calling for a shift to a more constructive, humanizing starting point. Christine Cha, PhD, stresses the importance of focusing on why many people who feel suicidal keep trying to live. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-storm-daily.html Wed, 16 Sep 2026 10:40:06 EDT news708771387 Caregivers of people with cancer, heart problems and other long-term illnesses report needing more psychological support but often stop short of accessing it. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-caregivers-worldwide-sacrifice-years.html Wed, 16 Sep 2026 10:10:01 EDT news708610922 A summer intervention program for autistic children ages 4–6 with no intellectual disability significantly improved their social performance, according to a study by researchers at the Institute for Autism Research (IAR) at the University at Buffalo. It was published in Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-autistic-children-ages-social-skills.html Wed, 16 Sep 2026 07:00:03 EDT news708752402 Exposure to air pollutants, especially small particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), may heighten the risk of death by suicide and suicidal thoughts, suggests a pooled data analysis of the available evidence, published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-air-pollutant-exposure-linked-heightened.html Tue, 15 Sep 2026 18:30:02 EDT news708604801 Exposure to stress during critical developmental windows significantly increases the risk of developing mood and anxiety disorders in adulthood. While women and sexual- and gender-minority groups experience higher rates of adversity and stress-related disorders, the underlying biological mechanisms driving these sex-influenced vulnerabilities remain poorly understood. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-trauma-brain-differ-significantly-males.html Tue, 15 Sep 2026 17:00:04 EDT news708702724 Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and an inadequate response to standard antidepressants who received add-on treatment with the drug lumateperone had significantly improved sexual function, according to a new study led by a University of Virginia School of Medicine researcher. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-drug-sexual-function-patients-depression.html Tue, 15 Sep 2026 15:00:08 EDT news708697330 Interacting with animals can make people feel calmer, less lonely and less anxious. A new study from the University of California, Davis, shows that animals play an active role in shaping these interactions and their outcomes. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-minutes-miniature-horses-donkeys-mood.html Tue, 15 Sep 2026 05:00:17 EDT news708596941 Every day, your brain runs the same calculation: Take a risk or play it safe? Your gas tank might be low, but there's just enough to make it to work on time. Do you stop and risk being late? If you're out of money at the casino, do you quit playing slots or withdraw more cash from the ATM? Talk to a stranger at the park or stay quiet? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-scientists-brain-regions.html Tue, 15 Sep 2026 05:00:11 EDT news708597002 Reading for pleasure—from tucking into a Jane Austen classic to devouring a Heartstopper graphic novel—is linked to better mental health, greater empathy and a lower risk of dementia, say researchers. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-pleasure-lifelong-health-cognitive-benefits.html Mon, 14 Sep 2026 19:10:01 EDT news708603121 A new study has revealed how both reduced neural activity and reduced control over neural activity in the brain's prefrontal area can disrupt the ability to adapt behavior when circumstances change. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-prefrontal-brain-impair-ability-behavior.html Mon, 14 Sep 2026 14:00:01 EDT news708602282 Researchers at Texas A&M University's Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine have identified time-specific patterns of brain activity following ketamine treatment in older adults with treatment-resistant depression. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-ketamine-reveals-shifting-brain-patterns.html Sat, 12 Sep 2026 09:00:01 EDT news708354104