Mental Health | featured news

The new class of drug, which can be taken orally, is designed to protect the brain by combating the damaging effects of inflammation. Results from early stage clinical trials have yet to be announced, but studies on animals suggest the therapy could be effective against a wide range of conditions which also include motor neurone disease and complications from traumatic brain injury.

Though current trials and several others about to begin probably will be too late to benefit Frost, research is showing the importance of early diagnosis. Once the process that destroys brain cells has begun, the disease is irreversible. But if researchers can find a way to catch it early and slow it down, they think they can prevent much of the worst damage.

Because epilepsy causes repeated, sudden seizures, people with the condition would benefit greatly from a therapy that can detect seizures just as they are starting or, eventually, predict them before they begin and prevent them from happening. A new generation of implantable devices is looking to pick up where medications—and even the VNS—often leave off, at least for people whose seizures routinely begin in one part of the brain (the seizure focus).

And what it took to get him the help he needed... It was early December 2010. That August, my father, who was 69, became abruptly and deeply paranoid. Convinced that nameless people were trying to kill him, he slept no more than an hour or two a night and started drinking after five years of sobriety. When his suspicions grew to include his immediate family, he became violent and threatened suicide.

Dr. Sujatha Reddy joins CNN's Fredricka Whitfield to discuss how drinking more coffee can help delay Alzheimer's.

Look for a fundamental shift in how scientists hunt ways to ward off the devastation of Alzheimer's disease - by testing possible therapies in people who don't yet show many symptoms, before too much of the brain is destroyed....

Would you go to the gym or pick up those free weights to prevent memory loss, sharpen your thinking, and protect you from dementia and Alzheimer's? New evidence suggests exercise is the best way to take care of your brain.

Psychologist Michael F. Scheier reflects on his groundbreaking 1985 research, which provided the scientific framework for exploring the real power of optimism.

Just because the wonder drugs of the ’90s have disappointed doesn’t mean the science should be completely discarded. But it does mean we need a more sophisticated theory of depression.

Most people talk to themselves at least every few days, and many report talking to themselves on an hourly basis. What purpose is served by this seemingly irrational behavior? Previous research has suggested that such self-directed speech in children can help guide their behavior. For example, children often talk themselves step-by-step through tying their shoelaces, as if reminding themselves to focus on the job in hand. Can talking to oneself also help adults?