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A University of British Columbia-led review of mind-wandering research, published in the November issue of  Nature Reviews Neuroscience,  proposes a new framework for understanding how thoughts flow, even at rest. The authors argue that their new framework could help better understand the stream of consciousness of patients diagnosed with mental illnesses like depression, anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). "Mind-wandering is typically characterized as thoughts that stray from what you're doing," said Kalina Christoff, the review's lead author and a professor in UBC's department of psychology. "But we believe this definition is limited in that it doesn't capture the dynamics of thought. Sometimes the mind moves freely from one idea to another, but at other times it keeps coming back to the same idea, drawn by some worry or emotion. Understanding what makes thought free and what makes it constrained is crucial because it can...

Serotonin and arginine-vasopressin act in reverse methods in women and men to affect aggression and dominance, new analysis signifies. Credit score: © viperagp / Fotolia The mind regulates social conduct in another way in women and men, based on a brand new research revealed within the  Proceedings of the Nationwide Academy of Sciences . A workforce of researchers led by Dr. Elliott Albers, director of the Middle for Behavioral Neuroscience and Regents' Professor of Neuroscience at Georgia State College, and graduate pupil Joseph I. Terranova, has found that serotonin (5-HT) and arginine-vasopressin (AVP) act in reverse methods in women and men to affect aggression and dominance. As a result of dominance and aggressiveness have been linked to emphasize resistance, these findings might affect the event of more practical gender-specific therapy methods for stress-related neuropsychiatric problems. "These outcomes start to offer a neurochemica...

Dr. Cameron Carter, Editor of  Biological Psychiatry : Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging , noted the study is "an elegant synthesis of task fMRI and structural MRI" that shows a unique relationship between structure and function in bipolar disorder. In the first study to assess the relationship between structural and functional MRI data in bipolar disorder, Dr. Shantanu Joshi and his colleagues at the University of California, Los Angeles focused on brain regions that play a role in mood dysregulation in the disorder. They examined the brains of 45 patients with bipolar disorder who were between mood episodes and 45 controls. While performing a task intended to activate specific regions of the brain, patients had reduced activation, when compared to the control group, in two brain regions critical for inhibitory control: the inferior frontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex. The patients also had reduced activation in the superior frontal gyrus, a region impor...

A study in the  American Journal of Critical Care  ( AJCC ) examines the complex relationship between fatigue, depression and gender in patients with heart failure and the effect on hospitalization. The study, "Differing Effects of Fatigue and Depression on Hospitalizations in Men and Women With Heart Failure," found that fatigue and depression may affect hospitalization separately but do not have synergistic effects. Men and women differ in the effects of these symptoms on hospitalization. A team of researchers from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), Little Rock, reviewed data from the records of 9,869 patients who had been hospitalized for any reason at UAMS with a diagnosis of heart failure during a three-year period from Jan. 1, 2010, through Dec. 31, 2012. All study variables -- hospitalizations, demographic characteristics, vital signs, comorbid conditions, results of laboratory tests, clinical characteristics and medications -- were present i...

The team behind the research, from Imperial College London, say the findings suggest women should be routinely screened for the condition, and receive specific psychological support following pregnancy loss. In the study, published in the journal  BMJ Open , the team surveyed 113 women who had recently experienced a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy. The majority of the women in the study had suffered a miscarriage  in the first three months of pregnancy, while around 20 per cent had suffered an ectopic pregnancy, where the baby starts to grow outside of the womb. The results revealed four in ten women reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) three months after the pregnancy loss. Miscarriage affects one in four pregnancies in the UK, and is defined as the loss of a baby before 24 weeks - although most miscarriages occur before 12 weeks. Ectopic pregnancies are much rarer, affecting around one in 90 pregnancies. The fertilised egg usually implants in...

In partnership with Every Day Harmony (the brand name for Northern Ireland Music Therapy Trust), the researchers found that children and young people, aged 8 -- 16 years old, who received music therapy had significantly improved self-esteem and significantly reduced depression compared with those who received treatment without music therapy. The study, which was funded by the Big Lottery Fund, also found that young people aged 13 and over who received music therapy had improved communicative and interactive skills, compared to those who received usual care options alone. Music therapy also improved social functioning over time in all age groups. In the largest ever study of its kind, 251 children and young people were involved in the study which took place between March 2011 and May 2014. They were divided into two groups -- 128 underwent the usual care options, while 123 were assigned to music therapy in addition to usual care. All were being treated for emotional, developmental...