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Psychiatric condition of family shapes your personality

shelbydburns — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 04:38:13 +0000

Who you are can largely be defined by the personal interests you develop over a lifetime. Scientists now think that many personal interests may be genetically predetermined. A new study suggests that a family history of psychiatric disorders like autism and depression could influence what you find to be interesting.

This new study indicates a link between psychiatric conditions and aptitude in the arts and sciences. Other studies have looked at occupations or the activities of highly creative people. This study indicates that the influence of familial neuropsychiatric traits on personal interests is independent of a person’s talent or career path and could even inform a person’s basic personality.

Princeton researchers surveyed nearly 1100 students from their own Class of 2014 during their freshman year to determine their intellectual interests. They were also asked to indicate a variety of disorder in their immediate family including mood disorders, substance abuse or autism. These students were old enough to have defined interests and known aptitudes, but are not yet on a career path.

Students interested in the humanities were twice as likely to have a relative affected by a mood disorder or substance abuse. Science and technical majors were three times more likely to report a sibling with an autism spectrum disorder. The data suggests that heritable psychiatric conditions are linked to a person’s intellectual interests.

The connection was interesting even for Aristotle who famously said “eminent in philosophy, politics, poetry and the arts have all had tendencies toward melancholia.”

“Altogether, results of our study and those like it suggest that scientists should start thinking about the genetic roots of normal function as much as we discuss the genetic causes of abnormal function. This survey helps show that there might be common cause between the two,” said Sam Wang an associate professor in Princeton’s Department of Molecular Biology and The Princeton Neuroscience Institute .

Source: PLoS ONE, ScienceDaily

Singing the blues, sad but enjoyable

shelbydburns — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:16:38 +0000

Song sung blue, everybody knows one. And they make us sad. Really sad. Quantifiably sad. Listening to sad music brings on a real, physiological sadness. Furthermore, your personality enhances the effect one way or another.

Scientists have debated for years whether or not music influenced mood and how that might happen. There has never been a reliable way to measure the effect of music on emotion. But a unique study by Finnish researchers has revealed the effect.

The study participants listened to music that they themselves identified as sad and to music, created to be sad, that they had never heard before. Researchers measured the participant emotions while they listened to the music. They strove for objectivity by using indirect measures of memory and judgment. They discovered that while everyone felt sad listening to music they identified as sad, only those who were empathetic also felt sad when listening to the new music.

Jonna Vuoskoski from the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research at the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland explained that the sad music elicits sad memories. This may be why familiar sad music strikes a chord with everyone, we all have sad memories. But the new music, unfamiliar to the participants, did not have those memory associations for everyone, just for the most empathetic.

Even though people were sad while listening to the music, they still reported enjoying the experience. Which goes to show that sad as a negative day-to-day emotion is not quite the same when associated with music. Vuoskoski commented that this is an interesting contradiction: listening to sad music can be an enjoyable, even uplifting experience.

Source: MedicalNewsToday, Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts

An on/off switch for stress

shelbydburns — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 01:55:58 +0000

New research has shed some light on how the brain adapts to stress. There is pioneering evidence of a new mechanism of stress adaptation. This revelation may eventually lead to a better understanding of why prolonged stress can lead to anxiety disorders and depression.

Stressful episodes cause a release of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) from neurons in the brain. This is followed by rapid changes in the CRH gene expression. As soon as CRH-containing hormones release all their CRH, they are given orders to create more. CRH is responsible for the “fight or flight” response therefore regulation of CRH for adaptation to stress is critical in development. Abnormal release of CRH is linked to multiple psychiatric disorders.

“Despite the wealth of information regarding the physiological role of CRH in mediating the response to stress, the molecular mechanisms that regulate expression of the CRH gene, and thereby CRH synthesis, have remained largely elusive,” explains Dr. Gil Levkowitz, Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. “In our study, we used mouse and zebrafish model systems to identify a novel intracellular signaling pathway that controls stress-induced CRH gene expression.”

Dr. Levkowitz discovered that the protein Orthopedia (Otp) modulates CRH gene expression in parts of the brain associated with stress adaptation. They found that Otp regulates production of two different receptors on the neurons’ surface. The receptor serve as on/off switches.

“This regulation of the CRH gene is critical for neuronal adaptation to stress. Failure to activate or terminate the CRH response can lead to chronic over- or under-activation of stress-related brain circuits, leading to pathological conditions,” said Dr. Levkowitz.

Source: Cell Press, MedicalNewsToday

Recognizing Signs of Schizophrenia

PsyWeb Staff — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:10:23 +0000

Find out what the signs of schizophrenia are and how to recognize them in others

Computer program identifies at-risk kids for early treatment

shelbydburns — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 01:28:26 +0000

Computer programs may be able to differentiate between the brain scans of healthy adolescents and those at risk of developing psychiatric disorders. At-risk adolescents could be identified and helped before the disease took hold and required more dramatic intervention. It could be these disorders which become apparent during formative years and may alter a person’s life could be treated or even avoided.

Prediction of these types of disorders is difficult because they have no known biomarkers and genetic factors have not been a reliable indicator.

The study which showed it’s possible involved 16 health teens who each had a parent with bipolar disorder and 16 adolescents without history of psychiatric illness. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was utilized to watch their brain activity as they were asked to identify the gender of a series of emotionally expressive faces. When the computer program was asked to predict probability of psychiatric illness based on the fMRI scans, it was accurate in three out of four incidents.

Leading researcher, Dr. Janaina Mourai-Miranda, a Wellcome Trust Research Career Development Fellow at the University College London stated, “Combining machine learning and neuro-imaging, we have a technique which shows enormous potential to help us identify which adolescents are at true risk of developing anxiety and mood disorders, especially where there is limited clinical or genetic information.”

“Anxiety and mood disorders can have a devastating effect on the individuals concerned and on their families and friends. If we are able to identify those individuals at greatest risk early-on, we can offer early and appropriate interventions to delay or even prevent, onset of these terrible conditions,” said Professor Mary Phillips, from the Clinical and Translational Affective Neuroscience Program at the University of Pittsburgh and co-author.

Source: MedicalNewsToday, PLoS ONE

Can anyone understand these symptoms? Slow movement, easy confusion, forgetfulness, lack of focus, shyness, socially awkward. Is this just how I am, or should I be concerned?

theconfusedlittleman — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:14:26 +0000

When stressed couples need each other's support

shelbydburns — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:11:02 +0000

Having one stressed out working spouse at home can challenge the entire family – what happens when that stress doubles in a two income household? Work stress and the two income family are two trends going hand in hand in the US which could potential impact work and home.

A study from Wayne Hochwarter, the Jim Moran Professor of Business Administration in the Florida State University College of Business, looks at the times-2 daily stress in the lives of working spouses. “Given that a lack of support from one’s spouse represents a major cause of both divorce and career derailment, this research is needed to address issues that affect both home and work,” explained Hochwarter.

Over 400 working couples of all types participated. For those who reported high stress, but strong support, they experience the following:
- 50% higher satisfaction with marriage
- 33% higher likelihood of positive co-worker relationships
- 30% lower likelihood of guilt for home neglect
- 25% higher concentration level at work
- 25% higher likelihood of quality time with kids
- 20% higher rates of career satisfaction
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The type of support that had a meaningful and far-reaching effect included awareness of the other spouse’s daily work demands, not “forcing” support from the other partner, understanding that communication must remain open regardless of circumstances, recognizing that distancing oneself from the family is counter-productive, not unloading tons of work complaints on the family, not competing with the spouse, and not keeping tab on who is getting and who is giving.

“Most important, though, was the ability for a spouse to offer support on days when he or she needs it just as much,” Hochwarter noted. “In many cases, both return home from work stressed. Generating the mental and emotional resources needed to help when your own tank is empty is often difficult.”

Source: Florida State University, MedicalNewsToday

For a mood boost, go exercise!

shelbydburns — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 18:40:29 +0000

Exercise makes you feel good. Really good, with surges of excitement and enthusiasm which last for days.

“You don’t have to be the fittest person who is exercising every day to receive the feel-good benefits of exercise,” said David Conroy, professor of kinesiology. “It’s a matter of taking it one day at a time, of trying to get your activity in, and then there’s this feel-good reward afterwards.”

Conroy pointed out that short term rather than long term goals might be the key to sticking with an exercise program.

“When people set New Year’s resolutions, they set them up to include the entire upcoming year, but that can be really overwhelming,” he explained. “Taking it one day at a time and savoring that feel-good effect at the end of the day might be one step to break it down and get those daily rewards for activity. Doing this could help people be a little more encouraged to stay active and keep up the program they started.”

The research was based on the diaries of 190 university students who were asked to record their daily activities including exercise when it was 15 minutes or longer.

“We found that people who are more physically active have more pleasant-activated feelings than people who are less active, and we also found that people have more pleasant-activated feelings on days when that are more physically active than usual,” said Amanda Hyde, kinesiology graduate student.

“Our results suggest that not only are there chronic benefits of physical activity, but there are discrete benefits as well. Doing more exercise than you typically do can give you a burst of pleasant-activate feelings. So today, if you want a boost, go do some moderate-to-vigorous intensity exercise.”

Source: Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, MedicalNewsToday

The DSM gets a revision and mental illness gets redefined

shelbydburns — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 22:57:01 +0000

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is being revised. This is the first time since 1994 and you can be everyone is anxious to include the latest in psychiatric diagnosis.

Suggested changes include the definition of autism spectrum disorders and depression. While these might cause concern, there is even larger attention being paid to the DSM as a whole.

“Almost no one likes the DSM, but no one knows what to do about it,” said University of Michigan psychiatrist Randolph Nesse of the diagnostic tool first published in 1952.

“A huge debate over when depression is abnormal seems likely to be resolved by removing the so-called ‘grief exclusion’,” Nesse said. “At the moment, depression is not diagnosed in the two months after loss of a loved one. The result of this proposed change would be that people experiencing normal grief will receive a diagnosis of major depression. Doing this would increase consistency in diagnosing depression, but at the cost of common sense. It’s clear that bereavement is not a mental disorder.”

The new DSM will likely upset as many people as it pleases. “The problem is not the DSM criteria,” said Nesse. “The problem is that the untidy nature of mental disorders is at odds with our wish for a neat, clean classification system.”

He continued, “It’s vital to recognize that emotions serve functions in the same way that pain, cough and fever do, and that strong negative emotions can be normal responses to challenging or anxiety-provoking situations.”

Everyone should remain realistic in their expectations for the revision. Remember, it’s a work in progress.

Source: ScienceDaily, BMC Medicine

Green space contributes to less stressful living

shelbydburns — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 21:29:03 +0000

A new study shows that the stress level of an unemployed person is related more to their environment than age, gender, degree of deprivation and even disposable income. In other words, the presence of parks and woodland areas, aka green space, may help people deal with job loss, chronic fatigue and anxiety, even post-traumatic stress disorder. The more green space there is, the less stress.

Researchers measured stress by finding cortisol levels in the saliva samples of a group of 35to 55 year olds. Cortisol is the hormone related to stress. They discovered that if the space surrounding a person’s living space is less than 30% green, the people show unhealthy levels of cortisol. For every one percent increase in green space, there was a corresponding decline in stress. Either people living in or around green don’t get stressed to begin with or they deal with it much better than those of us locked into cement and steel.

When people were asked to self-identify stress levels, those in the highest green areas reported less stress.

“Given the increasing levels of stress and poor mental health suffered by people in Scotland, this is an exciting breakthrough. For the first time, researchers have worked with unemployed people from deprived areas and used scientific tests to show that, where there is more green space around, people’s stress levels were measurably lower, while less green space was linked with signs of body’s hormones not working properly,” said Catharine Ward Thompson, director of OPEN space research centre.

Source: University of Edinburgh, MedicalNewsToday