Category Archives: depression

February 24

The Neuroscience of Stress

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Not to brag, but I would consider myself to be an expert in stress – not the study of it, but because of how often I’ve experienced it throughout my adult life (yay, grad school!). If you’re reading this article, I’m guessing you can think of a time when you’ve experienced stress, whether that’s cramming […]

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February 10

Can Botox make us happier?

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I’ll admit it – I absolutely love Netflix reality shows depicting beautiful people, their lifestyles, and their interpersonal issues (looking at you Selling Sunset…). At least once per season on my favorite shows, a cosmetic surgeon shows up to give Botox injections to any willing participant to help keep their skin wrinkle-free. As a Netflix […]

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January 21

Ketamine and Psychedelics: Next-Wave Antidepressants

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Ketamine and psychedelics are making headlines as new alternative antidepressant therapeutics. For years scientists have been studying the benefits of these drugs on the brain and exciting new research has led to the idea that our understanding of what underlies depression could be wrong and these next-wave antidepressants could be another remedy of one of […]

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November 12

How Light Leads to Darkness: A Neural Link Between Nighttime Light and Depression

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Nighttime light exposure can lead to depression. A new study brings us closer to understanding why, and what we can do about it.

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January 09

Can we inherit family trauma?

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The epigenetics behind “generational trauma” [En español] The 23 and Me craze has officially reached my family. Both of my parents were born in Poland so the results weren’t a complete surprise, but as we watched the site track generations of family history from a single spit sample, new questions came up. When my sisters […]

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December 05

When it gets dark, people get SAD (seasonal affective disorder)

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Here in San Diego, we get a minimum of 9 hours and 59 minutes of sunlight, even in the dead of winter. Boston and Chicago get closer to 9 hours and Anchorage gets as low as 5.5 hours compared to Miami’s 10.5 hours. Does this dramatic difference in sunlight have any health effects? 1% of […]

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April 25

Immune to pain: new insights into chronic pain treatment

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[En español] Jo Cameron, a Scottish woman in her mid-60s, was seemingly happy and healthy other than a problem with her hip. Now and then, it would give way and prevent her from walking straight. She had brought it up to her doctor, but because she wasn’t in pain, the issue was dismissed. It wasn’t […]

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April 18

BRINGING JOY BACK TO CHILDBIRTH

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[En español] In the US alone, 3 million new moms suffer from postpartum depression, or PPD. Most moms agree that, despite the discomfort during pregnancy and the pain during labor, childbirth is a joyful experience. And I imagine that must be true as many women around the world have more than one child. However, postpartum […]

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