All news from Psychiatry

Brain Circuits Generates Anxiety

Researchers have identified connections between neurons in brain systems associated with reward, stress, and emotion. Conducted in mice, the new study may help untangle multiple psychiatric conditions, including alcohol use disorder, anxiety disorders, insomnia, and depression in humans.

Understanding these intricate brain systems will be critical for developing diagnostic and therapeutic tools for a broad array of conditions. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) also provided major support for the research. NIAAA and NIMH are parts of the National Institutes of Health. The study was published in Nature Neuroscience.

Bioengineered Replacements for Vessels and Ducts, New Advances

A team of Brigham and Women's Hospital researchers have developed a way to bioprint tubular structures that better mimic native vessels and ducts in the body. The 3-D bioprinting technique allows fine-tuning of the printed tissues' properties, such as number of layers and ability to transport nutrients.

These more complex tissues offer potentially viable replacements for damaged tissue. The team describes its new approach and results in a paper published in Advanced Materials.

New Approach against Dreaded Tropical Disease Leishmaniasis

Leishmania is a microorganism threatening the health of over 500 million people at risk of crossing its path. Although leishmaniasis, the disease caused by the parasite, has been on the radar of scientists for a long time, the quest for affordable and effective treatment continues. Researchers have now developed a new, cost-effective strategy to rapidly identify molecules capable of eliminating Leishmania.

Effects Of Metabolic Syndrome On Arterial Function

Scientists determined two factors of vascular aging CF-PWV and CAVI. Both of these parameters determine arterial stiffness, the main indicator of vascular aging, with high precision. However, they are influenced by age and certain metabolism abnormalities in different ways.

The study is expected to help cardiologists find effective diagnostic methods for individual patients. In young people, large vessels such as the aorta and its main branches normally have elastic walls. With aging, the walls of the arteries accumulate collagen, which increases their stiffness one of the key indicators of vascular aging.

Arteries

Stiff vessel walls, unlike the elastic walls of young arteries, do not stretch and fail to slow down the flow of blood from the heart. The study was published in the Journal of Hypertension.

'New Smoker' Rates in Europe: Mixed Trends in Teenage

In most of Europe, the rates of smoking initiation among older teens have declined since the 1970s, while "new smoker" rates among younger teens have risen in recent years, according to a study published August 22, 2018 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by an international team of researchers involved in the Ageing Lungs in European Cohorts (ALEC) study, coordinated by Deborah Jarvis, Imperial College of London, UK.