New findings
![new findings new findings](https://gettotext.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/New-findings-This-is-how-our-sun-dies.jpg)
None has reliably shown the presence or absence of depression or suggested a reliable method for treating the disease. There have been a number of failed attempts to find biomarkers, such as neurotransmitter levels, hormone levels, genetics, electroencephalograms (EEGs), etc. Psychiatry is far behind other fields of medicine in its ability to diagnose diseases with medical testing.
New findings manual#
These collections of patterns have been published in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) for the past 68 years. If the symptoms fit a certain pattern and cause impairment in functioning, then we give it a name, such as major depression. Patients report their thoughts, emotions and behavior. At present, doctors still rely on pattern recognition to diagnose major depression. The idea is that if scientists can find those reliable biomarkers, then they can find more effective treatments that have fewer side effects. Scientists have been searching for biomarkers that would reliably indicate the presence or absence of depression, and so far, they have failed to find them. The field of medicine has been looking for centuries for the “cause” of major depression. Why does it matter that there is a specific activity pattern in the brain with anhedonia? There are many other symptoms that can go along with mood disorders, but anhedonia is one of the most definitive symptoms of major depression. If you had a boil down major depression to a single symptom, it would be anhedonia. Anhedonia is the state of being in which a person has lost joy in life or is no longer experiencing pleasure. Weirdly, that description is not that far off the mark. The word anhedonia sounds to me like a disease that causes the victim to hate fun or hate others having fun. So, why don’t I feel that way?” This diagram (and maybe another below) explains why. If my friends or coworkers knew I was depressed, they wouldn’t understand or they would be mad at me. It is often the case that when patients come to me with major depression, they say, “I shouldn’t be depressed. The above diagram is a key piece of evidence that there is a specific, abnormal brain activation pattern that is present in people who have anhedonia, which is a key feature of major depression, and absent in those who do not. Leanne Williams, the founding director of Stanford's Center for Precision Mental Health and Wellness, deserves a major award for bringing this understanding of the brain to the rest of the world. This model will help us in our efforts to better understand the connection between neural activation/networking and major depression. It shouts, “Watch out world, ‘cause there’s a new model in town!” This diagram represents a new way of conceptualizing depression.
![new findings new findings](https://casereports.bmj.com/content/bmjcr/12/3/e229025/F2.large.jpg)
Read the call for evidence for more information about this inquiry.I know…it’s so sexy. The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee will inquire formally into the nature and purpose of this new UK research funding agency. The March 2020 Budget stated that the Government would “invest at least £800 million” in this “blue skies” funding agency, which would fund “high risk, high reward science”. Its budget in financial year 2019–20 was approximately £2.65bn. The US Government’s ‘Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’ ( DARPA), which evolved from ARPA, employs ‘programme managers’ on 3–5 year contracts to fund high‑risk, high‑reward research. The October 2019 Queen’s Speech briefing note explained that this would be “broadly modelled” on the US ARPA. It will provide long term funding to support visionary high-risk, high-pay off scientific, engineering, and technology ideas The December 2019 Queen’s Speech set out the Government’s intention for:Ī new approach to funding emerging fields of research and technology.