Lifestyle « Weekly Gravy

Brain implants that deliver electric pulses can ease depression in people who aren’t responding to psychiatric drugs, a new study says. Half of a small group of people who received brain implants experienced significant improvement in their depression symptoms, researchers reported Nov. 18 in the journal Nature Communications. Further, more than one-third wound up virtually depression-free following the treatment, which is called deep brain stimulation. “Deep brain stimulation shows real promise at tackling treatment-resistant depression, which can have a huge impact on people’s lives,” senior researcher Dr. Valerie Voon, a professor of neuropsychiatry and neuromodulation at the University of Cambridge in the UK, said in a news release. Deep brain stimulation involves inserting electrodes deep into a person’s brain, where they transmit mild electrical pulses. It’s being used to treat a range of neurological conditions, most successfully among people with Parkinson’s disease, researchers said in background notes. This is one of the largest studies to show that deep stimulation of specific brain regions can treat depression, said researcher Dr. Bomin Sun, a neurosurgeon at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in China. “This study not only tells us how the brain is impaired in depression, it also highlights potential of DBS for depression,” Sun said in a news release. For the new study, researchers recruited 26 patients in China with treatment-resistant depression and implanted… read on > read on >

Immigration experts warn the policy could make it easier for officers to deny visas based on their own judgment read on >

Want to avoid migraines? Stick to your boring routine, a new study suggests. Any major disruption to a person’s daily routine — called a “surprisal” event — is strongly linked to a higher risk of a migraine attack within the next 12 to 24 hours, researchers reported Nov. 11 in JAMA Network Open. Too much food or drink, staying up late, a stressful incident, unexpected good or bad news or a severe mood swing could pose a “surprise” to the body, setting it up for a next-day migraine, researchers said. “Incorporating measurement of surprisal into migraine forecasting tools could provide individuals with a more effective, personalized strategy for managing headache risk,” concluded the research team led by Dana Turner, an assistant professor of anesthesia, critical care and pain medicine at Harvard Medical School. In fact, the findings support a person-centered approach to treating a migraine “that moves beyond static lists of potential causes to account for the unpredictable and context-sensitive nature of daily life.” For the study, researchers tracked 109 people with migraine from April 2021 to December 2024. Participants kept daily diaries that marked their migraine attacks and any potential migraine triggers they encountered. The research team created an average for each person’s migraine triggers, and then went looking for days on which a “surprise” deviation from that average took place. In their words,… read on > read on >

About 1 in every 8 U.S. teenagers and young adults turns to artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots for mental health advice, a new study says. AI bots offer a cheap and immediate ear for younger people’s concerns, worries and woes, researchers wrote Nov. 7 in JAMA Network Open. However, it’s not clear that these programs are up to the challenge, researchers warned. “There are few standardized benchmarks for evaluating mental health advice offered by AI chatbots, and there is limited transparency about the datasets that are used to train these large language models,” investigator Jonathan Cantor said in a news release. He’s a senior policy researcher at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. The new study follows on a report that OpenAI is facing seven lawsuits claiming ChatGPT drove people to delusions and suicide, according to The Associated Press. “The defective and inherently dangerous ChatGPT product caused addiction, depression, and, eventually, counseled him on the most effective way to tie a noose and how long he would be able to ‘live without breathing,’ ” one lawsuit said of one of the victims, 17-year-old Amaurie Lacey, The AP reported. ChatGPT also supported Zane Shamblin, 23, as he weighed suicide with a loaded handgun, according to a wrongful death suit filed by his parents. “I’m used to the cool metal on my temple now,” Shamblin told the program, CNN… read on > read on >

As the days get shorter and temperatures drop, many people start to feel a noticeable shift in their mood, a condition known as seasonal affective disorder. This type of depression — commonly known as SAD — happens around the same time every year, most often in the fall and winter, when sunlight is limited. Having the right tools can make a big difference in how you feel during these months, Stephanie Marcello said in a news release. She’s chief psychologist at Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care in New Brunswick, New Jersey. SAD affects people in different ways, but common symptoms include feeling sad most of the day for most days, low energy, sleeping more than usual, overeating or losing your appetite, weight changes and losing interest in activities you normally enjoy. Some people may also feel hopeless or have thoughts of suicide. Doctors typically diagnose SAD when these symptoms happen for at least two winters in a row and improve again in the spring and summer. Because reduced sunlight plays a major role, getting outside during the day can help boost mood. Even short outdoor breaks or sitting near a sunny window can help increase serotonin, a brain chemical that’s linked to feeling good. Further, light therapy — exposing yourself to bright, artificial light — is another option. Research shows it can help up to… read on > read on >