Effectiveness of physical activity interventions for improving depression, anxiety and distress: an overview of systematic reviews

Objective To synthesise the evidence on the effects of physical activity on symptoms of depression, anxiety and psychological distress in adult populations.Design Umbrella review.Data sources Twelve electronic databases were searched for eligible studies published from inception to 1 January 2022.Eligibility criteria for selecting studies Systematic reviews with meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials designed to increase… Continue reading Effectiveness of physical activity interventions for improving depression, anxiety and distress: an overview of systematic reviews

Effect of Technology-Enhanced Screening in Addition to Standard Targeted Clinician Education on the Duration of Untreated PsychosisA Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial

Reducing the duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) is essential to improving outcomes for people with first-episode psychosis (FEP). Current US approaches are insufficient to reduce DUP to international standards of less than 90 days.Objective To determine whether population-based electronic screening in addition to standard targeted clinician education increases early detection of psychosis and decreases DUP,… Continue reading Effect of Technology-Enhanced Screening in Addition to Standard Targeted Clinician Education on the Duration of Untreated PsychosisA Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial

Gut microbiome-wide association study of depressive symptoms

Depression is one of the most poorly understood diseases due to its elusive pathogenesis. There is an urgency to identify molecular and biological mechanisms underlying depression and the gut microbiome is a novel area of interest. Here we investigate the relation of fecal microbiome diversity and composition with depressive symptoms in 1,054 participants from the… Continue reading Gut microbiome-wide association study of depressive symptoms

Nonpharmacologic and Pharmacologic Treatments of Adults in the Acute Phase of Major Depressive Disorder: A Living Clinical Guideline From the American College of Physicians

...Recommendation 1a:ACP recommends monotherapy with either cognitive behavioral therapy or a second-generation antidepressant as initial treatment in patients in the acute phase of moderate to severe major depressive disorder (strong recommendation; moderate-certainty evidence).Recommendation 1b:ACP suggests combination therapy with cognitive behavioral therapy and a second-generation antidepressant as initial treatment in patients in the acute phase of… Continue reading Nonpharmacologic and Pharmacologic Treatments of Adults in the Acute Phase of Major Depressive Disorder: A Living Clinical Guideline From the American College of Physicians

Social isolation and 9-year dementia risk in community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries in the United States

BackgroundSocial isolation can influence whether older adults develop dementia. We examine the association between social isolation and incident dementia among older adults in a nationally representative sample of community dwelling older adults in the United States (U.S.). We also investigate whether this association varies by race and ethnicity.MethodsData (N = 5022) come from the National Health and… Continue reading Social isolation and 9-year dementia risk in community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries in the United States

Discriminatory Attitudes Against the Unvaccinated During a Global Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic sizeable groups of unvaccinated minorities persist even in countries with high vaccine access1. Consequently, vaccination became a controversial subject of debate and even protest2. Here, we assess whether people express discriminatory attitudes in the form of negative affect, stereotypes and exclusionary attitudes in family and political settings across groups defined by… Continue reading Discriminatory Attitudes Against the Unvaccinated During a Global Pandemic

An RCT study showing few weeks of music lessons enhance audio-visual temporal processing

Music involves different senses and is emotional in nature, and musicians show enhanced detection of audio-visual temporal discrepancies and emotion recognition compared to non-musicians. However, whether musical training produces these enhanced abilities or if they are innate within musicians remains unclear. Thirty-one adult participants were randomly assigned to a music training, music listening, or control… Continue reading An RCT study showing few weeks of music lessons enhance audio-visual temporal processing

Investigating genetic causal relationships between blood pressure and anxiety, depressive symptoms, neuroticism and subjective well-being

Background High blood pressure is a leading cardiovascular disease risk factor and considered to be associated with psychological factors. However, the causal relationships between blood pressure and anxiety, depressive symptoms, neuroticism and subjective well-being are not clear.Aims The current study explored the genetic causal relationships between blood pressure and anxiety, depressive symptoms, neuroticism and subjective well-being.Methods Mendelian randomisation… Continue reading Investigating genetic causal relationships between blood pressure and anxiety, depressive symptoms, neuroticism and subjective well-being

Repeated psychological stress, chronic vicarious social defeat stress, evokes irritable bowel syndrome-like symptoms in mice

Increasing evidence has demonstrated that emotional states and intestinal conditions are inter-connected in so-called “brain–gut interactions.” Indeed, many psychiatric disorders are accompanied by gastrointestinal symptoms, such as the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). However, the functional connection remains elusive, partly because there are few useful experimental animal models. Here, we focused on a highly validated animal… Continue reading Repeated psychological stress, chronic vicarious social defeat stress, evokes irritable bowel syndrome-like symptoms in mice