One-third of Tennessee parents with children ages 6-17 are worried their child has an undiagnosed mental health condition, a new poll from the Vanderbilt Center for Child Health Policy found.

VUMC researchers are conducting a five-year multisite trial to explore potential methods for predicting which patients may have a worse course of depression or are most vulnerable to recurrent episodes.

Beginning this month, researchers from VUMC and the University of Vermont are launching a study to examine whether cognitive changes that occur at menopause for some women are related to an increased risk for Alzheimer's disease.

Poorly functioning AMPARs have been linked to a wide range of neurological and psychiatric disorders including seizures, Alzheimer’s disease, major depression and autism spectrum disorder. Understanding how AMPARs are formed and operate is essential for the rational design of pharmacological compounds that, by tuning AMPAR activity up or down, could improve treatment of these conditions.

A Vanderbilt University Medical Center pilot study of treating late-life depression in nonsmokers with transdermal nicotine (nicotine patch) has yielded some promising results, but the study’s author cautions that more study is needed.

Symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, including psychosis, depression and manic behavior, have both shared and distinguishing genetic factors, an international consortium led by researchers from Vanderbilt University and Virginia Commonwealth University is reporting.

Jonathan Becker, DO, the medical director overseeing Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital’s electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) program, spends a fair amount of time explaining to patients what electroconvulsive therapy is not.