Machine-learning study finds EEG brain signatures that predict response to antidepressant treatments

– Brain-wave pat­tern can iden­ti­fy peo­ple like­ly to respond to anti­de­pres­sant, study finds (Stan­ford Med­i­cine press release): “A new method of inter­pret­ing brain activ­i­ty could poten­tial­ly be used in clin­ics to help deter­mine the best treat­ment options for depres­sion, accord­ing to a study led by researchers at the Stan­ford School of Med­i­cine. Stan­ford researchers and…

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Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) as depression treatment: much promise, some DIY risks

Around 350 mil­lion peo­ple world­wide have depres­sion. Anti­de­pres­sant med­ica­tions are often pre­scribed to treat the con­di­tion, along­side talk­ing ther­a­pies and lifestyle changes such as reg­u­lar exer­cise. But a sub­stan­tial pro­por­tion of peo­ple either don’t respond to anti­de­pres­sants, or expe­ri­ence such sig­nif­i­cant side effects that they’d pre­fer not to take them. In search of 

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SSRI antidepressants linked to increased risk of stroke

Anti­de­pres­sants linked to risk of brain bleeds (Chica­go Tri­bune): “Peo­ple using a com­mon class of anti­de­pres­sants may have slight­ly increased odds of suf­fer­ing bleed­ing in the brain — though the risk is still very small, researchers report­ed Wednesday…The anti­de­pres­sants are known as selec­tive sero­tonin reup­take inhibitors (SSRIs), and include wide­ly used drugs like flu­ox­e­tine (Prozac),…

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Closing the Circuit: Helen Mayberg’s research could revolutionize depression treatment

At some point in their lives, 5 to 12 per­cent of Amer­i­can men and 10–25 per­cent of women will suf­fer an episode of depres­sion, mak­ing it the most com­mon­ly diag­nosed men­tal dis­or­der today. Unlike nor­mal sad­ness, which pass­es with time, depres­sion feels unstop­pable and caus­es peo­ple to lose inter­est in near­ly all activ­i­ties. Because it…

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emWave in Golf Digest

We often talk about how stress man­age­ment is as impor­tant as cog­ni­tive train­ing for brain fit­ness. We have also seen how traders can improve their per­for­mance by learn­ing how to man­age emo­tions of anx­i­ety and fus­tra­tion. Golf Digest has just pub­lished an arti­cle on how golfers can see their game improved thanks to stress management…

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