Fish Oil Supplements 'Beat Psychotic Mental Illness'

Taking a daily fish oil capsule can stave off mental illness in those at highest risk, trial findings suggest.

A three-month course of the supplement appeared to be as effective as drugs, cutting the rate of psychotic illness like schizophrenia by a quarter.
The researchers believe it is the omega-3 in fish oil - already hailed for promoting healthy hearts - that has beneficial effects in the brain.

 

 The capsules are rich in omega-3  

How Music Helps to Heal the Injured Brain Therapeutic Use Crescendos Thanks to Advances in Brain Science

Editor’s note: The use of music in therapy for the brain has evolved rapidly as brain-imaging techniques have revealed the brain’s plasticity—its ability to change—and have identified networks that music activates. Armed with this growing knowledge, doctors and researchers are employing music to retrain the injured brain. Studies by the authors and other researchers have revealed that because music and motor control share circuits, music can improve movement in patients who have suffered a stroke or who have Parkinson’s disease. Research has shown that neurologic music therapy can also help patients with language or cognitive difficulties, and the authors suggest that these techniques should become part of rehabilitative care. Future findings may well indicate that music should be included on the list of therapies for a host of other disorders as well.

 
The role of music in therapy has gone through some dramatic shifts in the past 15 years, driven by new insights from research into music and brain function. These shifts have not been reflected in public awareness, though, or even among some professionals.
Biomedical researchers have found that music is a highly structured auditory language involving complex perception, cognition, and motor control in the brain, and thus it can effectively be used to retrain and reeducate the injured brain. While the first data showing these results were met with great skepticism and even resistance, over time the consistent accumulation of scientific and clinical research evidence has diminished the doubts. Therapists and physicians use music now in rehabilitation in ways that are not only backed up by clinical research findings but also supported by an understanding of some of the mechanisms of music and brain function.
Rapid developments in music research have been introduced quickly into neurologic therapy (see sidebar) over the past 10 years. Maybe due to the fast introduction,  the traditional public perception of music as a ‘soft’ addition, a beautiful luxury that cannot really help heal the brain, has not caught up with these scientific developments.
But music can. Evidence-based models of music in therapy have moved from soft science—or no science—to hard science. Neurologic music therapy does meet the standards of evidence-based medicine, and it should be included in standard rehabilitation care.  Click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading...

Via:  The Dana Foundation

Network of Care for Behavioral Health

Welcome to the Network of Care for Behavioral Health, a comprehensive resource for individuals, families and agencies concerned with behavioral health. This website provides an extensive directory to put people in touch with the right services at the right time. It also offers vital information about diagnoses, insurance and advocacy, as well as daily news from around the world concerning mental health. This unique, one-stop information tool enables you to find pertinent mental health Web sites, keep personal records, and communicate directly with elected officials to make your voice heard in the legislative halls. The San Diego Network of Care for Mental Health website is provided by the County of San Diego with the sponsorship of the California Department of Mental Health. It is the inaugural Network of Care for Mental Health developed by Trilogy Integrated Resources. Recommended by the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (see excerpt), the Network of Care helps you find what you need and it helps ensure that there is "No Wrong Door" for those who need services. Regardless of where you begin your search for assistance with behavioral health issues, This Web site can greatly assist in our efforts to protect our greatest human asset - our beautiful minds. Click anywhere in this sentence for a direct link to the site...

A Very Comprehensive Resource with 100's of Links

Wikipedia's Index of Psychology Articles...

History of psychology Branches of psychology Basic science Abnormal · Behavioral neuroscience Cognitive · Developmental Experimental · Evolutionary Mathematical · Neuropsychology Personality · Positive Psychophysics · Social Transpersonal

Status: a more accurate way of understanding self-esteem(?)

Brain research is doing two things. In part it is explaining the underpinning functioning of things we already know, like the importance of mindfulness (see last week's post). However, some research also points to the need for a major overhaul in our thinking. This appears to be the case with self-esteem.
While there's no question that there's a deep human drive for a feeling of self-esteem or competence, this feeling of competence is almost never assessed on it's own: we are social beings at the core, and as such our sense of competence appears to be deeply connected to others around us. Self-esteem may not be an accurate way of understanding this feeling of 'okayness', when we actually measure this constantly against others. Instead of self-esteem, we need to start thinking about the more dynamic sense of 'status'.
Click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading...

Via:  Psychology Today

UCLA Researchers Develop Biomarker for Rapid Relief of Major Depression

It is a long, slow slog to treat major depression. Many antidepressant medications are available, but no single biomarker or diagnostic test exists to predict which one is right for an individual. As a result, for more than half of all patients, the first drug prescribed doesn't work, and it can take months to figure out what does.
Now, based on the final results of a nationwide study led by UCLA, clinicians may be able to accurately predict within a week whether a particular drug will be effective by using a non-invasive test that takes less than 15 minutes to administer. The test will allow physicians to quickly switch patients to a more effective treatment, if necessary...Click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading...

Via: UCLA Newsroom  A service of the University of California - Los Angeles. UCLA is California's largest university, with an enrollment of nearly 37,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The UCLA College of Letters and Science and the university's 11 professional schools feature renowned faculty and offer more than 300 degree programs and majors. UCLA is a national and international leader in the breadth and quality of its academic, research, health care, cultural, continuing education and athletic programs. Four alumni and five faculty have been awarded the Nobel Prize.

New Frontiers in Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Research

In contrast to cardiovascular disease, few breakthrough remedies for psychiatric illness have emerged in the past half century. Edward Scolnick lays blame for this dismal situation on barriers to understanding the genetic basis behind such illnesses. But the research drought may be over, as the current revolution in human genetics opens wide a door into the molecular biology and brain physiology behind diseases like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Psychology Blogs

Link To 40 Superb Psychology Blogs

"Forty of the best psychology blogs, chosen to give you a broad sweep of the most interesting content being produced online right now.

The list is split into three sections: first are more general psychological blogs, followed by those with an academic slant, followed by condition specific and patient perspective blogs. "...click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading.

Via PsycheBlog: Understand Your Mind

Advances in the Understanding and Management of ADHD

Russell Barkley, Ph.D., discusses the recent advancements in understanding the nature and subtyping of ADHD as well as recent discoveries in what might cause the disorder and medications that might help treat ADHD.

Growing Nerve Cells

A Free & Comprehensive Guide To The World of Psychology

All About Psychology website (Link)

Written and regularly updated by a lecturer in psychology, this website was launched in March 2008 and is designed to help anybody looking for informed and detailed information on psychology.

Definitions, history, topic areas, theory and practice, careers, debates, course directories and study skills will all be covered in detail here.

The website will also highlight and explore the most fascinating and compelling psychology related news and research.

All About Psychology website (Link)