Brain Matters
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Studying Ketamine’s Rapid Effects to Unlock Secrets for Developing Better Antidepressants

We offer A RESEARCHER’S PERSPECTIVE, based on a presentation given by Lisa M. Monteggia, Ph.D., of Vanderbilt University, at a zoom event hosted by BBRF. The topic of her presentation was “Studying Ketamine’s Rapid Effects to Unlock Secrets for Developing Better Antidepressants

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Accelerating Psychiatric Drug Development

Our PATHWAYS TO THE FUTURE story is about an unconventional approach to developing new psychiatric drugs. Based on an initiative by the National Institute of Mental Health, it’s called “Fast-Fail” and is designed to weed out the weakest drug candidates early in the process, to

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‘An Epidemic of Loneliness and Despair’: How Wisdom Can Help

Q&A with Dilip Jeste, M.D., on the role of wisdom in dealing with what he has called “an epidemic of loneliness and despair” in America.

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How to Deal with Holiday Stress during Covid-19

The holiday season usually is a joyful time. Many families look forward to gathering with relatives and friends, exchanging gifts, and celebrating traditions. In a normal year, the holidays can even be a bit stressful.

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RESILIENCE: A Q&A with Dr. Dennis S. Charney

A World Expert Discusses What Research and Personal Experience Have Taught Him

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A Strong Impulse to Help People Who  Live with Mental Illness Propels a Diverse Career in Clinical Brain Research

Deanna Barch, Ph.D., a much honored research scientist who now chairs the department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, did not take long in life to discover her passion.

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Restoring a Delicate Balance: Dr. Hilary Blumberg Seeks Ways to Therapeutically Address Subtle Brain Changes that Imaging Has Revealed in Mood Disorders

“I love the science of it!” says Dr. Hilary Blumberg, a research pioneer who has used advanced imaging to figure out how the brain subtly changes in bipolar disorder, major depression, and other mood disorders. “But what really drives me,” she stresses, “is bringing this work to the point where

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A RECOVERY STORY: How Non-Invasive TMS Brain Stimulation Helped a Nurse Overcome the Dulling Impact of Major Depression

Susan Burns was a woman with few options. Her medicines—SSRIs—had caused her sodium levels to drop precipitously. After spending an entire year, in her words, “walking a tight rope” trying to find an alternative treatment approach, she finally settled on a cocktail of three antidepressant

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A RECOVERY STORY: After Every Available Option Was Exhausted, Ketamine Has Enabled Her Life to Resume

Making a peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich is something people do almost mindlessly, or so you might say. But it is a task that involves a number of very real cognitive challenges: you have to remember where the peanut butter, jelly, and bread are.

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Teasing out Different Subtypes of Depression

Recent brain scan analysis suggests four distinct kinds of depression, says Conor Liston, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Neuroscience and Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine’s Feil Family Brain & Mind

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