Can brain scans tell us how successful CBT for anxiety will be? Meta-analysis of task-based fMRI studies shows promise

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Millie Lowther, Isabel Luetkenherm, Carlos Mena and Alexandra Pike summarise a recent fMRI meta-analysis, which finds that activation in brain circuits related to salience, interoception and emotional processing were found to predict a positive response to CBT in anxiety disorders.

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Deep brain stimulation for severe depression: could ‘brain pacemakers’ be the answer for some?

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Alexandra Pike, Alexis An Yee Low and Jonathan Roiser critically appraise a recent n-of-1 study on ‘brain pacemakers for depression’, which received extensive press coverage earlier this month. The case study looks at deep brain stimulation (closed-loop neuromodulation) in an individual with treatment-resistant depression.

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Can brain scans help reduce the guilt and shame associated with adolescent self-harm?

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Rachel Symons summarises a recent study, which shows that poor connectivity between brain regions may be an indicator of non-suicidal self-injury in young people.

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Is schizophrenia a by-product of human evolution?

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Muzaffer Kaser writes his debut elf blog on a recent study, which looks at evolutionary modifications in human brain connectivity associated with schizophrenia.

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ADHD remission: why do some children ‘outgrow’ ADHD whilst others don’t?

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A group of UCL Mental Health Masters students summarise a recent literature review that explores the potential pathways to ADHD remission.

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What causes Autistic Spectrum Disorder?

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Ben Janaway explores a recent review in JAMA Psychiatry on the emerging clinical neuroscience of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

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Emotional symptoms in adolescent girls: what can we learn from the functional connectivity of neural pathways?

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Shubhangi Karmaker on a recent resting-state fMRI study that explores neural network disturbances that underpin the emergence of emotional symptoms in adolescent girls.

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Resilience to depression: neural markers in adolescent at-risk females

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Matthew Broome appraises a recent cohort study that looks at neural markers of resilience in young women at familial risk for major depressive disorder.

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MRI in first episode psychosis

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Dan Joyce publishes his debut blog on a recent paper in the British Journal of Psychiatry that considers the feasibility and clinical utility of magnetic resonance imaging in first-episode psychosis.

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CBTp changes the brain’s wiring? Extraordinary claims, ordinary evidence

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Keith Laws and Samei Huda are not impressed by a study on brain connectivity changes following CBT for psychosis, which received a significant amount of press coverage when it was published back in January.

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