Stress hormones can lead to enhanced cognitive abilities in the child

Time of pregnancy is crucial

07-Mar-2024 - Researchers investigated how stress hormones affect the early development of brain cells in the cerebral cortex of fetus. The cortex is the crucial area of the brain for thinking. A team at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry was able to demonstrate causal links between stress hormones and ...

In-sights into depression

Connection between pupil reaction and listlessness proven

17-Jan-2024 - In a study, researchers found a clear link between pupil response and loss of pleasure. This discovery contributes to a better understanding of the physiological mechanisms behind depression. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry measured the pupillary reaction of participants ...

Machine learning meets behavioral neuroscience: allowing for a more precise phenotyping

07-Aug-2023 - A new computer program allows scientists to observe the behavior of multiple animals simultaneously and over extended periods, while automatically analyzing their motion. What may seem obvious marks a significant milestone, and paves the way for robust and accessible standardization and ...

Risk factor for psychiatric disorders has different effects depending on sex

Risk gene can also have positive effects

06-Jun-2023 - FKBP51 is considered a risk factor for psychiatric disorders. However, for the first time, new research results have shown positive effects: Instead of making people anxious or impairing their ability to think, the protein can have the opposite effect and thus promote resilience. The effect it ...

Similarity between schizophrenia and dementia discovered for the first time

Max Planck researchers on the trails of Emil Kraepelin

18-Aug-2022 - Researchers for the first time compared schizophrenia and frontotemporal dementia, disorders that are both located in the frontal and temporal lobe regions of the brain. The idea can be traced back to Emil Kraepelin, who coined the term "dementia praecox" in 1899 to describe the progressive ...

Stress factor regulates obesity

Researchers find new link to cell's recycling system

11-Mar-2022 - For the first time, the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry and the University Hospital Bonn have been able to directly link a stress factor in the brain to the cell's recycling system and obesity. This could enable a completely new approach to treat stress-induced metabolic diseases. Researchers ...

Acute stress leads to dynamic changes in the brain

Risk of mental illness can be inferred from stress response

22-Feb-2022 - Did doing math problems make you stressed at school? That's what happened to participants in a study of the brain's reaction to stress. For the first time, researchers looked at the entire duration of such a situation. They found not only changes in the communication of brain regions, but also a ...

Seeing depression in the pupil

Study proves correlation

30-Nov-2020 - When people win or lose something, their pupils dilate slightly. Researchers have found that this dilation is less pronounced in acutely depressed patients than in healthy people. The more severely ill the patients were, the less the pupil opened. In the long term, this finding could lead to a ...

Cellular waste system disposes of coronavirus

Scientists discover a possible starting point for medications to treat coronavirus infections

11-Feb-2020 - Research into basic cellular processes continually leads to unexpected discoveries. A study by researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich, the University Clinic in Bonn, and Charité in Berlin illustrates how even basic research can lead to new medical treatments. The ...

Does the brain accumulate trauma?

Molecular similarities in mice and humans exposed to trauma

05-Sep-2019 - Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental illness that can develop after experiencing a traumatic event. Greater awareness of PTSD emerged when large numbers of soldiers returning from the Iraq war reported symptoms. Other traumatic events such as experiencing childhood or sexual abuse, a ...