Each month our editorial team sifts through hundreds of papers and curates notable findings—for practitioners and informed readers who want to stay current with the evidence. Subscribe to the monthly Research Digest for expert analysis and concise summaries of key papers.
10 papers
This paper is a meta-analysis of more than 300 studies in humans that looked at links between psychological stress and measures of the immune system. It found that very short, acute stressors (minutes) were tied to increases in some natural (innate) immune measures and decreases in some specific (adaptive) immune…
This umbrella review looked at the best existing reviews and large studies to see if depression is linked to low serotonin or low serotonin activity. Across measures of serotonin in fluids, receptor and transporter studies, tryptophan depletion experiments, and large genetic studies, the evidence was mixed or absent. The authors…
The researchers repeatedly measured early-morning cortisol and self-reported depressive symptoms in a population of adolescents. Using a statistical method to find subgroups, they identified a high-risk group (17% of the sample) with both high depressive symptoms and elevated morning cortisol. Membership in this group was linked to worse autobiographical memory…
This 2022 review looks at studies linking stress, inflammation, and changes in the amygdala to depression and anxiety. It says stress can trigger inflammation in the body and brain, that inflammation can change neurons and circuits in the amygdala, and that these changes are linked to depression- and anxiety-like signs…
This review paper brings together animal and human studies to explain how alcohol and stress hormones may change the prefrontal cortex and the body’s stress system as drinking moves from casual use toward dependence. The authors say alcohol raises stress hormones (glucocorticoids) right away, and repeated heavy use can produce…
This study in rodents and in neuronal cell cultures found that ketamine and its antidepressant metabolite (2R,6R)-HNK rapidly lower neuronally released glutamate in brain regions linked to depression. Using fast glutamate sensors (FAST), isolated synapses, and primary cortical neurons, the authors showed reduced depolarization-evoked glutamate release within 30 minutes after…
This rat study tested whether stress during the peripuberty period (seven non-consecutive days between postnatal day 28 and 42) changed play fighting at adolescence and later brain markers. Rats exposed to peripubertal stress showed more play fighting at P45. The researchers found that animals with very high play fighting in…
This is a theoretical review that looks at depression from both Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). It says depression is an emotion regulation disorder and is common worldwide. The paper reviews ideas from both systems and suggests possible brain and body pathways that could link TCM concepts of…
This small case series tested group-based ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (G-KAP) with five women in a residential eating-disorder program. Participants got weekly intramuscular ketamine in a group for 4 weeks. Four of five showed clinically meaningful drops in depression scores after the final session, and two of five showed clinically meaningful drops…
