Summary: A large Danish registry study of more than 1.1 million births found little evidence that most maternal health conditions during pregnancy directly cause autism in children. Instead, nearly all previously reported associations between maternal diagnoses and autism appear to be explained by familial factors—genetic inheritance and shared environmental influences—rather than a direct causal effect … Read more

Summary: A new large-scale U.S. study finds that cannabis (marijuana) use nearly doubled among people with depression between 2005 and 2017, and by 2017 those with depression were roughly twice as likely to use cannabis as those without depression. Source: Wiley Key findings: Analysis of national survey data from 728,691 people aged 12 and older … Read more

Summary: New analysis adds to growing evidence that changing diet and lifestyle can improve depressive symptoms. The research shows that modest dietary changes—eating more nutrient-dense foods and reducing refined sugars and fast food—are associated with reduced symptoms of depression, while effects on anxiety are less clear. Source: University of Manchester An analysis of data from … Read more

Summary: Melatonin treatment for sleep problems was associated with lower rates of self-harm among young people diagnosed with depression and anxiety, with the strongest reductions observed in adolescent girls. Source: Karolinska Institute A large observational study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden suggests that medical treatment for sleep problems using melatonin may be linked to a … Read more

Summary: A new Mount Sinai study provides the first direct evidence that deep brain stimulation (DBS) can physically remodel white matter pathways and rewire large-scale neural networks. The findings show that DBS does more than transiently change electrical activity: delivering high-frequency impulses to subcortical targets drives structural plasticity, increasing myelination and repairing disrupted mood-regulation circuits … Read more

Summary: New research from the University of Warwick links adolescent cannabis use with a higher risk of bipolar symptoms—particularly hypomania—in young adulthood. Source: University of Warwick Adolescent cannabis use associated with increased hypomania and bipolar symptoms in early adulthood, new study finds Researchers at Warwick Medical School report that cannabis use during adolescence is an … Read more

Johns Hopkins researchers have created brightly speckled red-and-green images of many tissues by color-coding cells in female mice to reveal which X chromosome is inactive in each cell. X chromosome inactivation is a normal process in female mammals, who carry two X chromosomes in every cell. Early in embryonic development, when the embryo comprises only … Read more

Summary: Scientists used jellyfish and fruit flies to investigate the biological drive to eat, revealing new insights into how feeding is regulated across animal evolution. Source: Tohoku University For decades, researchers have known that hunger and satiety are governed by hormones and small neuronal signaling molecules called neuropeptides. These compounds appear across many animal groups, … Read more

Summary: A recent systematic review challenges long-held beliefs about abstaining from sex before competition and finds no reliable evidence that sexual activity the day before an event harms athletic performance. Sex before sport does not appear to harm performance and may even be harmless or beneficial. During the Rio Olympics, around 450,000 condoms were made … Read more

A balance board accessory for a widely used video game console can help people with multiple sclerosis (MS) reduce their risk of accidental falls, new research published in the journal Radiology reports. MRI scans indicate that training with the Nintendo Wii Balance Board promotes beneficial changes in brain connections involved in balance and movement. Balance … Read more