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Excess deaths among those with mental health conditions and intellectual disabilities has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. A UK study of more than 160 thousand patients found that deaths from COVID-19 among people with learning disabilities were nine times higher than among the general population during the first UK lockdown and were five times higher among those with eating disorders. [More]

A new study published in the Journal of Brain Imaging Behaviour looked at sexual assault and white matter hyperintensities among midlife women. “Adverse mental health implications of trauma and sexual assault have been studied extensively over the years, yet much of this research wasn’t spotlighted before the advent of the #MeToo movement several years ago,” study author Dr. Rebecca Thurston told us. “There has been some work, including my own research, which linked experiences of trauma and sexual assault to the underlying cardiovascular disease risk in women. However, much less is known about what these traumatic experiences may mean for a woman’s risk of serious brain disorders such as stroke and dementia.” [More]

A new study published in eNeuro examined team flow and how it is a unique brain state associated with enhanced information integration and neural synchrony. “The study is about Team flow; a psychological state experienced when a team gets ‘in the zone’ during their performance,” study author Dr. Mohammad Shehata told us. “Successful teams and their coaches or supervisors strive to reach this state. We were hoping to detect brain signals specific to team flow and understand the neural mechanisms behind this state.” [More]

Gamifying our lives may seem like an easy way to motivate ourselves and others toward healthy behaviors. However, gamified incentives could also lead people away from their goals—and even make them more vulnerable to unhealthy habits. [More]

You feel it ahead of a big exam. Your stomach churns before a job interview. Your heart races before you board a plane. Stress is something everyone is likely to experience at some point. But stress doesn’t have to be an obstacle. In fact, it can be a useful tool. A recent study from the University of Rochester found that re-evaluating perceptions of stress can improve mental health, wellbeing and ultimately, success. [More]

Refugees who wish to settle in Western countries are less likely to have extreme political and religious views. A study published in Psychological Science surveyed 1000 Syrian refugees living in Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan. The researchers found that the majority of refugees were more motivated to return home to Syria than to migrate to Western countries, but those who did want to move to the West were less likely to hold extremist views. [More]

A new study published in the Journal of Molecular Psychiatry looked at how genetically encoded sensors enable micro and nano-scopic decoding of transmission in healthy and diseased brains. “Our study looked at developing a method to visualize neuromodulatory communication between neurons at the nanoscale,” study author Li Lin told us. “Neuromodulatory communication is important for many high cognitive behaviors and its deficit is responsible various psychiatric, mental and neurology disorders.” [More]

In recent news on Google’s blog, they announced that, in addition to being your personal assistant, Google is taking another step to becoming an integral part of your life. LaMDA, a conversation technology, is intended to have conversations about any topic without giving the same answer twice. [More]

A new study published in the Journal of Translational Psychiatry looked at a combined clinical and genetic approach to the assessment of suicide and death in bipolar affective disorder. “When we think about the risk for suicide, we often think about what is happening in a person’s life at the time: the loss of a job, a major change in a relationship,” study author Eric Monson told us. “Not many people are aware that genetics play an important role in risk. In fact, the heritability for suicidality is estimated to be 30-50%, meaning that a significant proportion of risk arises from genetic sources.” [More]

There’s a new animated series (My Life is Worth Living) that hopes to prevent suicide through its story telling. They want to show how important human connection is for prevention. But can such a serious subject be addressed through a cartoon? [More]