FBI Raids Lab That Pays Doctors to Promote Genetic Tests
From STAT: Federal investigators recently searched Proove Biosciences, a genetic testing company that purports to determine an individual's likelihood of becoming addicted to opioids. Proove's genetic...
Fixing Genes Won’t Fix Us
From The Boston Globe: Scientists' focus on biology and genetics research downplays the role of socioeconomic factors in causing distress and health problems.
"Science is threatening a new era of...
Thomas Insel Leaves the Google-Spawned Verily for a Start-Up
From Wired: Thomas Insel, neuroscientist and former head of the National Institutes of Mental Health, is leaving his role at the Google-spawned health science company...
Researchers Find that Textbooks Include Biased Information About ADHD
A review of academic textbooks finds that they often leave out effect sizes and molecular genetics findings, both of which suggest minimal impact of genetics on ADHD. Instead, textbooks focus on overblown conclusions from behavioral studies.
Lancet Psychiatry’s Controversial ADHD Study: Errors, Criticism, and Responses
Amid calls for a retraction, Lancet Psychiatry publishes articles criticizing the original finding and a response from the authors.
Does Depression run in Families?
From U.S. News: A variety of research shows that children of parents diagnosed with depression are more likely to experience depression themselves. However, it is...
Researchers Question Link Between Genetics and Depression
A new study, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, found no link between genetics and the occurrence of depressive symptoms.
Is Mental Illness Real?
From The Guardian: Conceptualizing emotional distress or suffering as the result of a biological, genetic illness may be stigmatizing and inaccurate, and may lead to...
Big New Study Challenges a Genetic Link to Stress, Depression
From Psych Central: A new meta-analysis found no evidence for a previously reported connection between the serotonin gene, depression, and stress.
"For years, scientists have been trying...
Researchers Make a Case for a “Theory of Nothing” in Psychology
What meaning do psychological constructs really hold, and how are they operationalized and statistically modeled within psychology research?
Why the Hype Around Medical Genetics is a Public Enemy
From Aeon: Throughout history, scientists have made inflated promises about medical genetics, vowing that the field will prevent or cure all diseases. These hyperbolic and grandiose...
Personalized Medicine may Treat Rather Than Prevent Diseases
From The Conversation US: Although personalized medicine, which involves tailoring health care to each person's individual genetic makeup, has helped make progress in the treatment...
Study Finds No Correlation between Personality at 14 and 77
This result calls into question popular notions about the correlations between personality and later-life achievement and health outcomes.
Researchers Push to ID Anxiety and Depression at Birth
"Factors such as genetics, environment, and experiences all have an influence on a person's likelihood of exhibiting signs of mental illness, but the study,...
Brain Scans Cannot Differentiate Between Mental Health Conditions
A new study analyzing over 21,000 participants found that differences in activation of brain regions in different psychological “disorders” may have been overestimated, and confirms that there is still no brain scan capable of diagnosing a mental health concern.
“The Miseducation of Frank Waln”
Studies of modern Native Americans have shown that “historical trauma,” the name that social workers give to the perception of historical loss passed down through...
“Their Brains had the Telltale Signs of Alzheimer’s. So why did They Still Have...
Sharon Begley for the STAT examines new research which raises “doubts about conventional approaches to diagnosing and finding treatments for Alzheimer’s.”
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Neurosexism: Study Questions Validity of Gender-based Neuroscientific Results
Neuroscientific results that class humans into two categories, “male” and “female,” tend to reify gender stereotypes by giving them the appearance of objective scientific truth.
Children with Autism may be Over-diagnosed with ‘ADHD’
A commonly used ADHD diagnostic measure may find overlapping symptoms in autism and ADHD, resulting in over-diagnosis.
Bipolar Diagnosis Linked to Childhood Adversity
With the ties between traumatic childhood experiences and mental health issues, should we continue to focus on biological approaches?
The Failed Quest for Biomarkers in Psychiatry
A recent commentary by Ganesan Venkatasubramanian and Matcheri Keshavan notes that efforts to identify biomarkers in people diagnosed with psychiatric disorders have been overwhelmingly...
How We Can Inherit Trauma and Resilience
Philip Perry, writing for Big Think, covers studies in epigenetics revealing how trauma can be passed on through generations.
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New Study Raises Doubts About fMRI Neuroimaging Research
More than forty thousand papers have been published using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology to explore the brain. A new analysis of the common...
Neuroscientists Consider the Effect of the Gut on the Brain
A review article published in the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology summarizes the latest research on the role that microbiota in the gut play in...
Psychologists Suggest Mental Health is Based on Environment
In a new review for Molecular Psychiatry, psychologists Elaine Fox and Chris Beevers examine the connection between mental health genetics and cognitive biases. “'If...
