Genes, brains and self-harm: New study links adolescent risk to biology and disadvantage

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Self-harm is common among adolescents and a strong predictor of suicide risk. A major new cohort study in the British Journal of Psychiatry explores how genetic risk and brain differences might explain who’s most at risk, and why.

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suPAR step forward? Teenage trauma linked to chronic inflammation in new study

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Not all childhood trauma has the same biological impact. A new study finds that adversity in late childhood is most strongly linked to immune dysregulation at age 24.

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Under the skin: How childhood maltreatment may trigger lifelong multimorbidity

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Why do people who were maltreated as children face higher risks of both mental and physical illness? A new Mendelian randomisation study suggests that metabolic markers — like triglycerides and blood sugar — may be part of the chain connecting adversity to later multimorbidity.

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GLP-1 receptor agonists and the brain: could these medications boost more than metabolism?

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GLP1 drugs are already used to treat diabetes and support weight loss, but do they have any impact on mental health? This new meta-analysis looks at the evidence from 80 clinical trials.

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The genetic relationship between ADHD and depression

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Tim van der Es discusses a recent paper that investigates whether ADHD causally increases the risk of subsequent major depression diagnoses. The study findings underscore the need for effective treatment and assessment of ADHD and a requirement for a deeper understanding of the potential causal mechanisms linking ADHD and depression.

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New research on metabolomic pathways supports the case to routinely screen for antenatal depression

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Nora Rosenberg summarises the largest and most comprehensive study to date on metabolomic pathways to antenatal depression, birth outcomes and offspring development.

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Is brain imaging the future for bipolar disorder diagnosis in adolescents?

The study emphasises the potential of adopting a multimodal approach, incorporating imaging and behavioural data, to improve diagnosis of bipolar disorder in adolescence.

Emiliana Tonini summarises a recent Chinese study, which suggests that combining MRI scan and behavioural assessments data may increase the accuracy of diagnosing bipolar disorder in adolescents.

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(Brain) sex matters

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Paris Lalousis reviews a recent study that looks into the differences in brain connectivity between males and females, which suggests a potential sex-based divergence in the neurobiological underpinnings of psychiatric disorders.

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Can proteomics improve our prediction of depression remission?

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Jonas Hagenberg discusses new insights into the possible use of proteomics (the large-scale study of proteins) for improving our prediction of depression remission.

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Does what you eat affect how you feel?

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Daisy Crick summarises a recent paper on the casual relationship between polyunsaturated fatty acids and depression.

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