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.
84 papers
In a small, controlled study of 18 people with treatment-resistant major depression, a single intravenous dose of the NMDA receptor antagonist ketamine (0.5 mg/kg) produced rapid drops in depression scores. Improvement began within about 2 hours and remained statistically significant compared with placebo for up to 1 week. The study…
This randomized, double‑blind, cross‑over trial gave 51 patients with life‑threatening cancer two sessions of psilocybin (one very low dose and one high dose) spaced five weeks apart. The high dose (22–30 mg/70 kg) produced large drops in clinician‑ and self‑rated depression and anxiety, and increased quality of life, meaning, and…
This review says adult ADHD affects about 2.5% of adults and often occurs with other mental health problems. Adults with ADHD commonly have trouble with attention, memory, planning, self-control, and emotions. The condition is often missed or undertreated, is linked with big personal and social problems, and the evidence on…
A group of international mood-disorder experts reviewed the research on ketamine and esketamine for adults whose depression did not get better with usual antidepressants. They found that these drugs work differently from standard antidepressants and can lift symptoms more quickly for some people with treatment-resistant depression. However, the experts also…
This review examines studies on how testosterone relates to anxiety and depression and how that might help explain sex differences in these disorders. About 18% of U.S. adults have an anxiety disorder each year and about 7% have major depressive disorder, and women are more than twice as likely as…
This paper is a careful review of research about treatment-resistant depression. The authors looked through medical studies to see how doctors define this kind of depression, what makes it hard to assess, and which treatments have been tried. They describe drug strategies like adding lithium or thyroid hormone, switching antidepressant…
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is defined without assuming a single cause and has two main symptoms: depressed mood and loss of interest or pleasure. The paper says we should also pay more attention to fatigue, sleep problems, anxiety, thinking (cognitive) problems, and sexual problems when diagnosing and judging treatment. Some…
The CANMAT 2023 update gives doctors clear, up-to-date advice for treating adults with major depressive disorder. It puts evidence into a practical, clinician-friendly format. The update says treatment should be a team effort between patients and clinicians, be tailored to each person, and follow a planned, systematic process with regular…
This observational study followed 98 people who microdosed psychedelics over six weeks and found that people reported better psychological functioning on days they took a microdose, but there was little evidence that those effects lasted into the next days. Among 63 people who completed formal tests before and after the…
Researchers tested deep brain stimulation (DBS) in a small group of people whose depression did not get better with usual treatments. They used an implanted device that both delivered stimulation to the subcallosal cingulate (a brain area linked to mood) and recorded brain electrical signals. Around 9 out of 10…
This systematic review looked at studies of ketamine for people whose depression did not respond to usual treatments (treatment-resistant depression, TRD). Across 24 papers with 416 patients, most studies found that ketamine can reduce depressive symptoms quickly — often within hours — and it was also reported to lower suicidal…
In a remote, randomized trial (NCT05304000), people did one of three five-minute daily breathing exercises or five minutes of mindfulness meditation each day for one month. The researchers measured mood, anxiety, and physiological arousal (breathing rate, heart rate, and heart rate variability). Breathwork—especially exhale-focused cyclic sighing—produced bigger mood gains and…
