depression

I thought this was generally interesting, shedding some light, as it does, on how ketamine and psychedelics affect the brain structurally, and suggesting the possibility of new drugs for depression and anxiety based on these chemicals. Ketamine was also suggested and tried as a treatment for ME...

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2679767 Medscape article about this study https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/896396

The article, https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-05-national-trial-eeg-brain-patients.amp The paper, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2678040

More at the link: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-04-unprecedented-genetic-factors-major-depression.html

Paywalled at http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0269881117746902

Open access at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322727729_Effects_of_anti-inflammatory_drugs_on_the_expression_of_tryptophan-metabolism_genes_by_human_macrophages

The work was done in mice. The method used to modulate dopamine levels - optogenetics - was new to me, and fascinating. The researchers think their work has relevance to depression and PTSD. Should low dopamine levels prove to be relevant in ME, some of the results from the study may also...

Note: the UK Biobank is not the same as the UK ME/CFS Biobank. Open access at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-03819-3

Sorry for the long post. Translation by Google and me. Mistakes and bold/italics by me. http://www.zeit.de/news/2018-03/27/drei-todesfaelle-bornavirus-fuer-menschen-doch-gefaehrlich-180327-99-652639 Berlin/Greifswald-Riems (dpa) Three patients in Germany have died as a result of a viral...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5438153/Years-depression-linked-brain-inflammation.html Not a new observation by any means but this is the first time I've seen measures of neuroinflammation quantified and correlated with duration.

Rest of the short article can be read at http://neurosciencenews.com/depression-prevalence-research-8314/

Paywalled at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-017-0010-3 New Scientist article on this, https://www.newscientist.com/article/2153139-how-social-stress-makes-your-brain-vulnerable-to-depression/

http://neurosciencenews.com/microbiome-depression-8228/

A few people were interested in delving into the thorny issue of depression. Here's a nice place to start. Eiko Fried summarises why depression is not a useful concept for research - in a series of 18 tweets. Click on the first tweet here and the other 17 will appear underneath: I will post...

Full title: A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Tumor Necrosis Factor Antagonist Infliximab for Treatment-Resistant Depression Authors: Raison et al Date: 2012 link to article Five minute video explanation for dummies Not brand new research or anything, but kind of interesting - and relevant...