Aston University research finds peer support vital for those taking medication for severe mental illness

Researchers at Aston Pharmacy School have found that people with severe mental illness could benefit from peer support to help them manage their medication and improve their health and quality of life. The study, which was set up to review the complexities of medication in severe mental illness and identify possible solutions, found that without additional support, the risk is […]

Online grocery shopping promotes less variety, fewer impulse buys

Online grocery carts tend to include less variety and fewer fruits and vegetables than those in a trip to a brick-and-mortar supermarket – but online shoppers are less susceptible to unhealthy impulse buys, according to a new Cornell University study. In an analysis of nearly 2 million shopping trips, the researchers found that within a given household, Instacart baskets are more […]

Better regulation of mental health ‘therapies’ urgently needed to protect the vulnerable

A rise in psychological pseudoscience is putting people at risk, psychologists have warned, with social media and celebrity endorsements partly to blame. Mental health apps, mood-boosting supplements and energy therapies are among the therapies that could do ‘more harm than good’ according to psychologists Jonathan Stea and Stephen Hupp in their new book Investigating Clinical Psychology. “As discourse around wellness, mental […]

Melatonin and its derivatives enhance long-term object recognition memory

Multiple studies have demonstrated the memory-enhancing effects of melatonin and its derivatives in animal models. It is also known that the formation of both short- and long-term memories require the phosphorylation of certain memory-related proteins. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying melatonin-induced memory enhancement have remained elusive. Now, medical researchers from Sophia University, Japan, have made important findings that contribute significantly […]

Font size can ‘nudge’ customers toward healthier food choices

Restaurants can persuade patrons to choose healthier foods by adjusting the font size of numbers attached to nutritional information on menus, according to a study headed by a Washington State University researcher. Lead researcher Ruiying Cai, an assistant professor in the WSU School of Hospitality Business Management, said U.S. restaurants with more than 20 locations are already required to show the […]

Presentation of Ingezza capsules data on tardive dyskinesia improvement regardless of baseline antipsychotic use at 2023 Psych Congress Elevate – Neurocrine Biosciences

Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. presented findings from a meta-analysis of three long-term studies evaluating Ingrezza (valbenazine) capsules that demonstrated substantial and sustained improvements in tardive dyskinesia (TD) in adults with or without concomitant antipsychotic therapy. The data (Poster #4) were presented at 2023 Psych Congress Elevate in Las Vegas. The analysis of the three studies (KINECT 3, KINECT 4, and J-KINECT) […]

Limit screen use in children under six, says psychologist

“Children who are in regular contact with mobile phone screens, tablets or computers are more irritable and have worse attention, memory and concentration than those who do not use them.” Parents should strictly ration or not allow screen time for children aged under six, according to a leading neuropsychologist in a new book. Dr Álvaro Bilbao, Ph.D., uses current and established […]

Employees tend to avoid taking breaks despite high levels of stress

Heavy workloads make employees feel a greater need for a break, but new research finds they may actually discourage employees from taking breaks at work despite causing high levels of stress, fatigue, and poor performance. Researchers from the University of Waterloo found employees often kept working despite wanting to pause. One potential reason is employees may have felt pressure to […]

What happens to our dopamine system when we experience aversive events?

It is well known that the dopamine system plays a crucial role in motivation, learning and movement. One of the main functions of dopamine is to predict the occurrence of rewarding experiences and the availability of rewards in our environment. In this context, the dopamine system informs our brains about so-called ‘reward prediction errors’ – the difference between received and […]

Older diabetes treatment appears to have anti-dementia effect

Researchers report a link between use of glitazones to treat type 2 diabetes and a 22% reduced risk of dementia. The findings appeared on Oct 11, 2022 in BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care. “These findings may help inform medication selection for [older] patients with [type 2 diabetes] at high risk of dementia,” the authors said. As background, the authors noted […]