Search results: mental illness

A lifetime of mental illness accelerates ageing

A lifetime of mental illness accelerates ageing

NeurobiologyNeuroscience

By Rosa García-Verdugo

Mental illness is associated with accelerated ageing, namely with shorter life span and ageing-related diseases such as diabetes or cardiovascular problems, with worse effects observed in men than women (the average lifespan for men having suffered from mental illness is 10 years shorter than for peers without those issues, for women the difference is seven […]

Why the mad artistic genius trope doesn’t stand up to scientific scrutiny

Why the mad artistic genius trope doesn’t stand up to scientific scrutiny

NeurobiologyPsychology

By Invited Researcher

Vincent van Gogh sliced off his ear with a knife during a psychotic episode. Ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky developed schizophrenia and spent the last 30 years of his life in hospital. Virginia Woolf lived with bipolar disorder, eventually taking her own life as she felt another deep depression beginning. Many famous creative artists have lived […]

Psychosis and brain structure

Psychosis and brain structure

Neurobiology

By José Ramón Alonso

One of the intriguing and central mysteries in contemporary neuroscience revolves around the intricate relationship between the brain and the mind. While our understanding of neurons, neurotransmitters, and neuronal receptors has advanced significantly, the elusive question remains: How do these complex chemical and electrical processes translate into thoughts, emotions, and behaviors? Gaining insight into these […]

Extracting the stone of madness: the art of brain surgery in the Renaissance

Extracting the stone of madness: the art of brain surgery in the Renaissance

HistoryMedicine

By Invited Researcher

madness Authors: Chiara Bressan, student of the European Master’s in Clinical Linguistics & Adrià Rofes, assistant professor of neurolinguistics at the University of Groningen Imagine yourself tied to a chair. You cannot move, you are fully conscious, and a strange individual behind you is about to carve into your skull. No, you are not an […]

Maternity and autism

Maternity and autism

Neurobiology

By José Ramón Alonso

Research on autism is addressing some of the many issues that are pending and one of them is the situation and perspectives of the rest of the family: fathers, mothers, siblings, grandparents… A recent study examines some aspects of women with autism who have had a child with ASD, compared to women without autism who […]

Could regulators of the immune system have a role in schizophrenia?

Could regulators of the immune system have a role in schizophrenia?

BiomedicineNeurobiology

By Invited Researcher

In a new publication led by Dr. Albert Giralt, the researchers discovered the interaction between a transcription factor identified as “Helios” and a protein called “WDFY1” that could help elucidate the link between immunity and schizophrenia . Schizophrenia is an incurable mental illness characterized by relapsing episodes of psychosis. This disorder affects approximately 1% of […]

Microbiota and depression

Microbiota and depression

HealthMicrobiologyNeurobiologyNeurosciencePhysiology

By José Ramón Alonso

Gut microbiota has a surprising importance in processes related to the development of the nervous system, its functioning and to psychology and behavior, both in people and in animals. The microorganisms produce substances that after crossing the intestinal epithelium reach the blood and through it and after crossing the blood-brain barrier they reach the brain […]

MI weekly selection #169

MI weekly selection #169

Humanities & Social SciencesScienceTechnologyWeekly Selection

By César Tomé

Disks can store information for billions of years A new five-dimensional data storage method has been developed that researchers say can last up to 13.8 billion years, withstand extreme heat and hold all sorts of information. The data are encoded into minuscule nanostructures in small glass discs. The Verge New carbon structure can hold liquids […]