https://phys.org/ en-us Latest news from Douglas Mental Health University Institute - A new study just published in the prestigious journal Molecular Psychiatry by the team led by Salah El Mestikawy, Ph.D., researcher at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute (CIUSSS de l'Ouest-de-l'île-de-Montréal), professor at McGill University and head of research at CNRS INSERM UPMC in Paris, opens the field to new understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying addiction in humans. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-08-molecular-mechanism-addiction-humans.html Neuroscience Tue, 04 Aug 2015 10:00:02 EDT news357900077 A new study published by the team of Naguib Mechawar, Ph.D., a researcher with the McGill Group for Suicide Studies (MGSS) of the Douglas Institute (CIUSSS de l"Ouest-de-l"Ile de Montreal) and associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University, sheds new light on the disruption of astrocytes in depression. Astrocytes, a class of non-neuronal cells, have previously been implicated in depression and suicide. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-06-cerebral-astrocytes-depression-suicide.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 02 Jun 2015 08:00:02 EDT news352442225 A new study published by the team of Naguib Mechawar, Ph.D., a researcher at the Douglas Institute (CIUSSS de l'Ouest-de-l'île-de-Montréal) and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University, suggests that the integration of new neurons in the adult brain is a phenomenon more generally compromised in the brains of depressed patients. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-05-neurogenesis-olfactory-bulb.html Neuroscience Thu, 21 May 2015 14:06:24 EDT news351435968 A new study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B by the teams of Dr. Gregory West (Assistant Professor at the Université de Montréal) and Dr. Véronique Bohbot (Douglas Institute researcher and associate Professor at McGill University and the Douglas Research Institute of the CIUSSS de l'Ouest-de-l'Île de Montréal) shows that while video game players (VGPs) exhibit more efficient visual attention abilities, they are also much more likely to use navigation strategies that rely on the brain's reward system (the caudate nucleus) and not the brain's spatial memory system (the hippocampus). Past research has shown that people who use caudate nucleus-dependent navigation strategies have decreased grey matter and lower functional brain activity in the hippocampus. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-05-impact-video-gaming-brain.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 19 May 2015 19:00:03 EDT news351274644 New work by the Douglas Mental Health University Institute (CIUSSS de l'Ouest-de-l'île-de-MontréalI) computational neuroscientist Mallar Chakravarty, PhD, and in collaboration with researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) challenges in a thrilling way the long-held belief that a larger hippocampus is directly linked to improved memory function. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-05-memory-hippocampus.html Neuroscience Wed, 13 May 2015 11:55:42 EDT news350736931 Might living a structured life with regularly established meal times and early bedtimes lead to a better life and perhaps even prevent the onset of mental illness? That's what's suggested in a study led by Kai-Florian Storch, PhD, of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute and McGill University, which has been published in the online journal eLife. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-02-deconstructing-mental-illness-ultradian-rhythms.html Medical research Sat, 21 Feb 2015 12:00:14 EST news343742407 A study led by Howard Steiger, PhD, head of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute Eating Disorders Program (EDP), in Montreal, in collaboration with Linda Booij, a researcher with Sainte-Justine Hospital and an assistant professor at Queen's University, is the first to observe effects suggesting that the longer one suffers from active anorexia nervosa (AN), the more likely they are to show disorder-relevant alterations in DNA methylation. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-02-underlines-importance-chronicity.html Psychology & Psychiatry Sun, 08 Feb 2015 01:47:56 EST news342582466 Imagine being able to easily get over all of the discomfort and problems of jet lag or night-shift work. Science is not quite there, but recent work by Marc Cuesta, Nicolas Cermakian and Diane B. Boivin from the Douglas Mental Health University Institute and McGill University has opened new therapeutic avenues for improving the synchronization of the body's different biological clocks. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-01-reset-biological-clocks.html Medical research Fri, 16 Jan 2015 09:30:25 EST news340623017 Making sure school-aged kids get to sleep at a regular hour is often a struggle for parents. But a study by researchers at McGill University and the Douglas Mental Health University Institute in Montreal suggests it's well worth the effort: the researchers found that a good night's sleep is linked to better performance in math and languages - subjects that are powerful predictors of later learning and academic success. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-01-quality-impacts-academic-children.html Pediatrics Thu, 08 Jan 2015 12:34:47 EST news339942880 Although progress has been made in recent years, the matter of youth suicide in Quebec still needs to be more effectively addressed. In fact, a new study in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry shows that more lives could be saved through early detection and increased public awareness and information sharing among professionals. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-10-youth-suicide-early.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 16 Oct 2014 11:18:07 EDT news332677074