Mental Health

Can meditation change your biology? A new study suggests so. Researchers found that practicing yoga nidra not only reduces stress and improves mood but also alters the daily rhythm of the stress hormone cortisol, highlighting a powerful mind-body connection.

Military veterans who attended psilocybin or ayahuasca retreats showed improvements in measures of depression, PTSD, anxiety, and reintegration into civilian life compared to their baseline assessments.

New research suggests "neural confusion" may underlie social avoidance in some forms of autism. In a mouse study, neurons that should value social contact responded similarly to both another mouse and a plastic object, blurring the line between the two...

In a breakthrough for addiction science, neurobiologists have pinpointed the precise brain circuit that suppresses the urge to binge drink. This discovery of the brain's own "off switch" could revolutionize how we understand and treat alcohol use disorder.

A longitudinal study in China suggests that teens who were maltreated as children often use maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, which may help explain their heightened risk for depression and anxiety symptoms later in adolescence.

Caffeine may help prevent stress-induced depression-like symptoms in mice by protecting gut health and reducing inflammation. While more research is needed, the findings raise the possibility that everyday dietary habits could play a meaningful role in mental health

Older adults with higher triglyceride-glucose levels were not more likely to develop depression over time after accounting for health and lifestyle factors, suggesting this metabolic marker does not predict future depression in this age group.

New research reveals that the brains of adults with ADHD function differently when anticipating risky decisions. They show reduced activation in key areas for self-awareness and emotional integration, offering a neurological basis for challenges with impulsivity and decision-making.

Among young adults, stress from election news was linked to higher risks of depression and anxiety, while pre-election anticipatory stress was linked to depression only. Stress about the election outcome was not associated with either condition.

Researchers found that methylphenidate lowers impulsive choice behavior in men but not women. The effect was associated with the structural integrity of specific white matter tracts in the brain, highlighting potential sex-based differences in drug response.

MDMA-assisted therapy shows promise for trauma, but its effects vary. Now, a study in JAMA Network Open offers a solution: brain scans that measure reactivity to unconscious threat cues can identify individuals most likely to respond positively to the treatment.

Older adults who ate more than one egg per week had a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s dementia and showed fewer Alzheimer’s-related brain changes. About 39% of this association was explained by higher dietary choline intake from eggs.

A large American survey finds that adults who have sex fewer than a dozen times a year die sooner when extra abdominal fat coincides with depression, hinting that mood and body shape can combine in a dangerous feedback loop.

Social anxiety weakens the link between irritability and bullying in adolescents—irritable teens are less likely to bully others if they also have social anxiety. This moderating effect was not seen with generalized anxiety or other forms of aggression.

After heroin exposure and abstinence, mice showed reduced prefrontal brain activity during social interaction but heightened responses to drug-related cues, suggesting heroin disrupts normal brain function in ways that may contribute to social withdrawal and relapse risk.