How Do Drugs From 1 Psychiatric Disorder Treat Symptoms of Another How is it that Lamotrigine, an antiepileptic, can help depression, a seemingly different disorder altogether? And why can Prozac, an antidepressant, help reduce anxiety? Or an antipsychotic for schizophrenia help depression? In other words, how is it that drugs for one type of major…
Physical Exercise Improves Memory Two recent experiments, one involving people and the other mice, suggest that regular exercise improves memory. However, different types of exercise affect the brain differently and there are other things that can be done to help your memory. For example, if you don’t want to do exercise then something you could…
TMS Helps Stroke Patients Improve Language Function A new study done at the Laboratory for Cognition and Neural Stimulation at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School shows that Trans Cranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) can improve language function in stroke patients with chronic speech-language problems. A stroke (or CVA, as they are referred to in medicine— a cerebral vascular accident)…
Glia – No respect After Einstein’s death, his brain was preserved for future study. Scientists were naturally curious to see how the brain of this genius compared with the brain of a person of ordinary intelligence. Would there be an abundance of neurons (grey matter) or some unusual wiring of the neurons that distinguished his…
Causes of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder People with obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, have recurrent thoughts and behaviors that can be crippling. This form of mental illness can affect anyone, from adults to the elderly. It’s also not uncommon to hear of children with OCD either, it’s believed that they can be genetically influenced to have the…
Part II-PTSD And Painful Memories There are many approaches to the treatment of the anxiety, fear, depression and other symptoms of PTSD that do not involve medication. The most common non-pharmacological treatment is trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Cognitive restructuring helps people make sense of the bad memories. Sometimes people remember the event differently than how…
Part I: Memory Formation and Drug Research on PTSD An article entitled Erasing Painful Memories in the May 2012 issue of Scientific American reviews some of the current research on the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Memory is no longer seen as a passive process of recording impressions. Rather, it is ongoing activity at the cellular…
Will We See Ketamine Related Antidepressants In The Near Future? There has always been dissatisfaction among doctors and patients with anti-depressants. They often take 4-6 weeks to work, have significant side effects, and when they are helpful, relief it is often partial. A significant percentage of depressed patients find that anti-depressants provide no relief at…
Even Mild Anxiety Could Shorten Your Life The importance of coping with stress is not just a quality of life issue. It’s also a quantity of life issue. We all know chronic stress isn’t good for our health. Even though stress is common, this shouldn’t be something that someone has to deal with daily. Saying…
Potential Misdiagnosis of Childhood ADHD The symptoms of sleep deprivation in children resemble those of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). These include being wired, moody and uncooperative, unable to pay attention or sit still, and to have poor social skills. The truth is that many children are given a diagnosis of ADHD when in fact the real problem may…