This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has four segments. Here are bits of each of them: Southern hair whorls — Three northern hemisphere scientists – Marjolaine Willems, Quentin Hennocq and Roman Hossein Khonsari in Paris, France – teamed up with a southern hemisphere scientist – Juan José Cortés Santander in Santiago, Chile – for […]
“Depression and Chocolate” is a featured article in the special Chocolate issue (volume 27, number 1) of the Annals of Improbable Research. This article is free to download: The article highlights several research studies about the search for delicious mood management methods.
This study presents a cheery attempt to see if cat bites lead to human depression (or maybe vice versa): “Describing the Relationship between Cat Bites and Human Depression Using Data from an Electronic Health Record,” David A. Hanauer [pictured here], Naren Ramakrishnan, Lisa S. Seyfried, PLoS One. 2013 Aug 1;8(8):e70585. (Thanks to Constanza Villalba for […]
Gordon Deegan, in The Irish Times, reports (on December 3, 2011): Psychiatrist calls for lithium to be added to water A consultant psychiatrist last night called on Government to add lithium salts to the public water supply in a bid to lower the suicide rate and depression among the general population. At a mental health […]
To understand a little something about the evolution of insight, paranoia and depression during early schizophrenia, one might do well to begin with Pickles and Haddock. Their most pertinent published study is: Drake, R.J.; Pickles, A.; Bentall, R.P.; Kinderman, P.; Haddock, G.; Tarrier, N.; & Lewis, S.W. (2004). The evolution of insight, paranoia and depression […]
Today’s classroom exercise: Decide whether the technique used in this study can be used to prove that any particular thing can cause any other particular thing: “Inflammation, Sanitation, and Consternation — Loss of Contact With Coevolved, Tolerogenic Microorganisms and the Pathophysiology and Treatment of Major Depression,” AUTHORS: Charles L. Raison, MD; Christopher A. Lowry, PhD; […]
People who are subject to depression will, if they have a stoke, likely then still be prone to depression. That seems to be one of the discoveries in the study: “Does Prestroke Depression Impact Poststroke Depression and Treatment?” Ried, L Douglas Ph.D.; Jia, Huanguang Ph.D.; Cameon, Randi M.P.H., PA-C; Feng, Hua M.S.; Wang, Xinping Ph.D.; […]