August 01, 2022
Community Shares:
- A new systematic review analyzing serotonin research claims that there is no convincing evidence that depression is associated with, or caused by, lower serotonin concentrations or activity. The research team behind this work states that most of the reviewed studies found no evidence of reduced serotonin activity in people with depression compared to people without. Additionally, the review authors discovered that using tryptophan depletion to lower serotonin levels did not correlate with better mood in study participants.
- The UC Davis MIND Institute has revamped its Research Participant Registry, making it easier than ever to learn about upcoming studies that may be a good fit for special needs families. The registry is a database used by MIND Institute researchers looking for people interested in participating in studies. The institute’s current research involves autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), fragile X syndrome, Down syndrome, and 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. Individuals without a diagnosis are also encouraged to register to participate in future studies.
- A new research article published in Clinical Epigenetics examined the effect of maternal stress before, during, and after pregnancy on an infant’s cognitive development. The authors hypothesized that maternal stress could profoundly affect the growth and lifelong function of the infant’s neurocognitive development. The research identified novel associations between newborn epigenome-wide methylation levels measured noninvasively in saliva and chronic psychosocial stress experienced by the mother during pregnancy. After processing the assessments, measures, and DNA samples involved in the research, the team identified epigenetic changes in the infants linked to genes related to neurological disorders such as ASD, PTSD, and schizophrenia.
- According to a new study, infants born at less than 30 weeks of gestation that exhibit risky behavioral and medical features were four times more likely to have motor delay, almost three times more likely to have cognitive delay, and twice as likely to have behavioral concerns at age two compared to similarly preterm but lower-risk infants. The authors believe that their work demonstrates the importance of neurobehavioral assessments of preterm infants to identify those at risk for adverse outcomes, potentially leading to early, targeted interventions.
