New Atlas

Medical Audio available

New ketamine-like drug offers antidepressant benefits without psychedelic side effects

Rich Haridy April 17, 2019

A study led by scientists at Yale University has described the promising early-stage results of a new drug designed to mimic the rapid antidepressant effects of ketamine, but without that drug’s dissociative psychoactive qualities. The experimental drug is currently in early phases of human testing.

A new drug designed to mimic the rapid antidepressant effects of ketamine without the negative side ...

Medical Audio available

Ketamine may relieve depression by mending broken bridges in the brain

Nick Lavars April 11, 2019

There remains a lot to learn about ketamine and its close chemical relatives when treating depression. A new study has shed more light on how it can stave off depressive symptoms, with experiments on mice revealing how it repairs busted circuits in the brain.

New research has shed more light on how ketamine relieves depressive symptoms in mice

Science Audio available

Provocative new insight into how ketamine exerts its rapid anti-depressant effects

Rich Haridy March 28, 2019

Following the FDA’s approval of a ketamine-inspired nasal spray for treatment-resistant depression, new research is offering provocative insights into how the drug exerts such a rapid anti-depressant effect and points to new pathways for research into alternative drugs to treat depression.

New research presents a new and controversial hypothesis to explain how ketamine generates its rapid anti-depressant ...

Health & Wellbeing

Depression and anxiety linked to memory loss in later life

Anthony Wood March 21, 2019

A newly-published study has found a link between repeated episodes of anxiety and depression experienced in the first four decades of life, and a decline in memory function by the time a person reaches their 50s.

The study indicates that multiple episodes of depression could be associated with a decrease in memory ...

Medical

Deep brain stimulation provides fast-acting and long-lasting relief of severe depression

Nick Lavars March 19, 2019

A new study exploring the potential for deep brain stimulation to treat severe depression has returned "absolutely sensational" results, with the reduction of depressive symptoms being not only fast-acting, but in some cases long-lasting.

Researchers implanted electrodes into the brain’s medial forebrain bundle, seen in blue, as a way of ...

Medical

FDA approves first drug to specifically treat postpartum depression, but it isn't cheap

Rich Haridy March 19, 2019

Zulresso, also known as brexanolone, has just been approved to treat postpartum depression by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This is the first drug ever approved to specifically assist women suffering from this mood disorder..

A new drug treatment that is administered through a slow IV infusion lasting up to 60 ...

Science Audio available

Short-acting psychedelic offers promising new treatment pathway for depression and anxiety

Rich Haridy March 18, 2019

A survey into the anti-depressant qualities of a short-acting psychedelic has reported positive improvements in well-being. The research suggests the brief duration of action seen in the drug 5-MeO-DMT makes it potentially more useful in clinical applications than longer acting psychedelics.

A new survey revealed 80 percent of DMT users reported improvements in well-being, depression and anxiety ...

Health & Wellbeing

Skin test shows promise for identifying predisposition to mental illness

Ben Coxworth March 12, 2019

Post traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety can all be quite serious conditions, but it's often difficult to determine who may be prone to developing them. New research suggests that in order to find out, we should perhaps look to a person's skin.

Tests utilizing skin conductance sensors may be able to identify individuals who are at risk of ...

Medical Audio available

Electrically syncing up brain regions improves depression in first-of-its-kind study

Rich Haridy March 11, 2019

In a first-of-its-kind study a new kind of non-invasive electrical brain stimulation has been trialed in patients with major depression. The results show this new technique to be promising in reducing depressive symptoms, with larger trials set to explore this novel treatment in greater detail.

Electrode netting and custom-made technology allows the Frohlich lab at the UNC School of Medicine to ...

Science Audio available

FDA approves controversial ketamine-inspired nasal spray for depression

Rich Haridy March 5, 2019

The FDA has just approved esketamine for adults with treatment-resistant depression, in a landmark announcement marking the first new major depression treatment introduced for clinical use in over 30 years. The nasal spray is a close chemical relative to the controversial anesthetic ketamine.

Spravato is the official name of the nasal spray containing esketamine