Centre for Biomedical Research in the Mental Health Network (CIBERSAM)

Researchers at Northwestern University in the United States have studied the effect of a temporary decrease in sleep on the mood of mice. According to their results, the animals became more hyperactive and hypersexual for a few hours. In addition, the occasional lack of sleep had an antidepressant effect that lasted for a few days and is explained by an increase in the release of dopamine. The results are published in the journal Neuron.

A commentary published last Friday in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, signed by more than 30 researchers, challenges the conclusions of the systematic review published in the same journal in July 2022, in which the authors concluded that there was no evidence that low serotonin levels cause depression. The researchers in the new paper blame the earlier study for flaws in methodology, among other weaknesses.

A study led by Spanish researchers and published in Science Advances has tested a new technique to improve gene therapy treatments for Parkinson's disease. Using ultrasound, they have managed to open the blood-brain barrier in specific areas, allowing the viruses used in the therapy to pass through and better reach the desired brain areas. After testing it on monkeys and three patients -patients were not given gene therapy, but the efficacy of the technique was tested using a radiotracer that does not normally cross the blood-brain barrier-, their conclusions are that the technique is safe and feasible and "could allow early and frequent interventions to treat neurodegenerative diseases".

The rate of death by suicide in Spain has increased between 2018 and 2021, according to a report presented today by the Complutense University of Madrid, the Centre for Biomedical Research in Mental Health Network (CIBERSAM) and the Hospital del Mar in Barcelona, which points to the influence of the pandemic in this increase. In 2021, a total of 4,003 people died from this cause, 5.5% more than in 2018. During the pandemic, mortality by suicide was greater among people living in large cities and provincial capitals. The report, which includes data from 2000 to 2021, also shows the increase in deaths by suicide that occurred during the period of the economic crisis, from 2008 to 2014.

Procrastination in a sample of more than 3,500 students was associated with the development of both mental and physical health problems nine months later, according to a study conducted at several universities in Sweden. The results are published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

Two studies published in the journal Nature Communications have found specific characteristics in the microbiota of people with depression, including populations of different ethnicities and habits.

A phase 2 clinical trial has examined the use of the hallucinogen psilocybin in different amounts for the treatment of resistant depression. The results are published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Research among more than 7,000 US adults shows small changes in extraversion, agreeableness, openness to change and conscientiousness between the period before the covid-19 pandemic and the year 2022, especially in younger people. The study is published in PLOS ONE.

Psychological distress, including depression, anxiety, worry, perceived stress and loneliness, prior to covid-19 infection was associated with an increased risk of persistent covid, according to research published in JAMA Psychiatry.

A study published today in the journal PLoS ONE examines the effectiveness of antidepressant treatments in improving patients' quality of life over time.