Catatonia, a syndrome of motor, emotional and behavioral abnormalities frequently characterized by muscular rigidity and a trance-like mental stupor and at times manifesting with great excitement or agitation, can occur during a critical illness and appear similar to delirium. But the management strategies are vastly different.

Understanding sex differences in pain perception could lead to more targeted and effective pain assessment and management strategies in older adults with Alzheimer’s disease.

Clinicians should use a structured interview in people with Alzheimer’s disease to identify pain that might be otherwise overlooked.

Two brain signaling pathways have overlapping functions in regulating anxiety, suggesting that therapeutics aimed at one or the other will impact both.

A natural signaling molecule that activates cannabinoid receptors in the brain plays a critical role in stress-resilience — the ability to adapt to repeated and acute exposures to traumatic stress, according to researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Women who have had repeated depressive episodes tend to pay more attention to negative emotional information, suggesting that they may benefit from cognitive therapy to build new, more positive pathways in their brains.

Vanderbilt researchers have identified cocaine-induced modifications at specific neuronal connections, which could aid the development of new therapies for substance abuse disorders.