The NARSAD Feed: NARSAD Investigator Discoveries, New Brain Exhibit and Mental Illness Survey

The NARSAD Feed: NARSAD Investigator Discoveries, New Brain Exhibit and Mental Illness Survey

Posted: November 22, 2010

Story highlights

 

Combining Two Types of Antidepressants Produces Stronger Effect; Mouse Study May Help Patients for Whom Existing Antidepressants Are Not Effective
When it comes to antidepressants, two may be better than one. When drugs that alter two mood-regulating brain chemicals – serotonin and acetylcholine – are combined, they work together to produce a greater antidepressant response, a new animal study shows.
(Note: This is NARSAD-funded research. Dr. Marina Picciotto is a NARSAD Independent Investigator.)

First Look at Brain: The Inside Story
A human brain is small enough to hold in your hands. It weighs about three pounds (1.4 kilograms) and is mostly made up of water. Yet a brain can compose a symphony, design an airplane engine, or predict the path of a planet in orbit. This modest organ is sometimes described as the world’s most complex structure – and it’s the focus of the new exhibition Brain: The Inside Story, which opens at the American Museum of Natural History on Saturday, November 20.

Play With Your Kid, For Their Mental Health’s Sake
Learning a hobby or other complex task in childhood with assistance from a trusted adult may help guard against the emergence of a personality disorder (PD) later on in life, reports a study in the current issue of the journal, Development and Psychopathology.
(Note: This is NARSAD-funded research. Dr. Mark F. Lenzenweger is a NARSAD Independent Investigator.)