Exploring a new way to diagnose mental illness
A new study at the School of Medicine is focused on understanding how the pathways identified by the Human Connectome Project differ in people with psychiatric illnesses. Principal investigator Daniel Mamah, MD, said the group’s goal is to look at diagnosing psychiatric illness in a different way.
Pro-marijuana ‘tweets’ are sky-high on Twitter
Analyzing every marijuana-related Twitter message sent during a one-month period in early 2014, researchers at the School of Medicine have found that the “Twitterverse” is a pot-friendly place. In that time, more than 7 million tweets referenced marijuana, with 15 times as many pro-pot tweets sent as anti-pot tweets.
Laughing gas studied as depression treatment
Nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, has shown early promise as a treatment for severe depression in patients whose symptoms don’t respond to standard therapies, according to a small pilot study led by (from left) psychiatrists Charles R. Conway, MD, and Charles F. Zorumski, MD, and anesthesiologist Peter Nagele, MD, at the School of Medicine.
Depression, overwhelming guilt in preschool years linked to brain changes
In school-age children previously diagnosed with depression as preschoolers, a key brain region involved in emotion is smaller than in their peers who were not depressed, scientists at the School of Medicine have shown.
Constantino receives Phillips award
John N. Constantino, MD, the Blanche F. Ittelson Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the School of Medicine, has received the 2014 Irving Phillips Award for Prevention from the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
Study: Most respond well to genetic testing results
People at high risk for psychological distress respond positively to receiving results of personalized genetic testing, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. More than 60 percent of subjects in the genetic study wanted information about their test results, and 95 percent said they appreciated receiving the information, regardless of whether the results were good or bad news.
Americans drink less when cigarettes cost more
Washington University researchers Melissa Krauss and Richard Grucza, PhD, led a team that analyzed data from all 50 states and found that higher cigarette taxes and policies prohibiting smoking in public places are associated with a decrease in alcohol consumption.
Gene protects teens from alcohol problems but not if they drink with friends
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that although a gene variant can prevent some young drinkers from developing alcohol problems, the gene’s protective effects can vanish in the presence of other teens who drink.
Schizophrenia not a single disease but multiple genetically distinct disorders
New research suggests that schizophrenia isn’t a single disease but a group of eight genetically distinct disorders, each with its own set of symptoms. The finding, in a study led by researchers at the School of Medicine, could be a first step toward improved diagnosis and treatment for the debilitating psychiatric illness.
Many depressed preschoolers still suffer in later school years
Children diagnosed with depression as preschoolers are likely to suffer from depression as school-age children and young adolescents, research shows. Depressed preschoolers were 2.5 times more likely to suffer from depression in later school years than children who were not depressed at very young ages, according to School of Medicine researchers.
View More Stories