Journal of Psychiatric Research
June 1, 2026
Kyle Valentino, Hana Ballum, William Cheung et al.
About 80% of people with major depressive disorder (MDD) report insomnia. This systematic review examined how glutamatergic modulators, especially ketamine, affect sleep in preclinical and clinical studies. Preclinical work showed ketamine alters EEG delta power during NREM sleep and normalizes clock suppressor gene expression, while esketamine enhances delta power but arketamine does not. mGlu2/3 activators reduce REM sleep. Clinical studies indicate that improved sleep can mediate ketamine's antidepressant effects in MDD. The authors suggest that sleep-related mechanisms are potential targets for depression treatment.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
January 1, 2026
Ola Hornmoen, Jessica Carlsson, Jesper Dammeyer et al.
Among trauma-affected refugees receiving imagery rehearsal therapy (IRT) for nightmares as an add-on to usual treatment, those with more severe symptoms at baseline showed greater improvement in sleep quality, nightmare severity, and PTSD symptoms. High motivation for psychotherapy predicted better sleep quality and PTSD symptom improvement, while lower cognitive functioning was linked to less PTSD symptom improvement, and using an interpreter was associated with less improvement in sleep quality. These findings suggest that low motivation and low cognitive functioning may be modifiable barriers to benefiting from IRT, though the small sample size limits reliability.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
November 1, 2025
Giuseppe A Carbone, Benedetto Farina, Aurelia Lo Presti et al.
Compartmentalization, a form of dissociation involving disconnection of conscious experience, correlates with increased alpha brain connectivity between the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex after attachment-related stimuli. This pattern, observed in 98 participants (55 women, mean age 22.7 years) using resting-state EEG before and after the Adult Attachment Projective, suggests dysfunctional cognitive control over emotional processing. Regression analysis showed that salience network-central executive network connectivity, age, male gender, and tobacco use significantly predict compartmentalization. No significant correlations were found for baseline or detachment subdimension. The findings indicate potential clinical utility of therapeutic models targeting alpha connectivity between salience and central executive networks.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
November 1, 2025
Vivian W. L. Tsang, Brendan Tao, Raimey Olthuis et al.
In a 12-week mental health treatment program combining ketamine-assisted therapy with group support, patients who used the Apollo Neuro wearable device, which provides silent vibration touch therapy, did not show significantly greater reductions in anxiety than those who did not use the device. Anxiety was measured with the GAD-7 questionnaire. After statistically matching participants for age, sex, and baseline anxiety levels, there was no significant difference between the groups (p = 0.63). Both groups showed a median reduction in anxiety symptoms, but the device did not provide an additional benefit beyond the treatment program alone.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
October 1, 2025
Haohao Dong, Huabin Wang, Xuefeng Xu et al.
Both online and face-to-face mindfulness meditation reduce the severity of Internet Gaming Disorder and enhance cortical structure, particularly in the superior temporal gyrus and right insula. In a randomized trial with 100 participants, eight sessions of mindfulness meditation (face-to-face or online) increased cortical thickness in the superior temporal gyrus compared to progressive muscle relaxation. Face-to-face meditation also increased local gyrification index in the left superior temporal gyrus and right insula. These structural changes correlated with reduced disorder severity. Mindfulness meditation also reduced structural covariance between the right superior temporal gyrus and default mode and sensory networks, suggesting neuroanatomical targets for treatment.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
January 1, 2025
Helle Degnbol Østergaard, Karen Johanne Pallesen, Marit Nyholm Nielsen et al.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) may increase plasma neuropeptide Y (NPY) levels in individuals with chronic stress. Adults with symptoms of chronic stress were randomly assigned to eight weeks of MBSR, a locally-developed stress reduction intervention (LSR), or a wait-list control group. Blood samples taken at baseline and at a twelve-week follow-up showed that the MBSR group had increased plasma NPY levels compared to the wait-list control group, while the LSR group did not differ statistically from the other groups. This pilot study suggests MBSR can alter plasma NPY, indicating a possible biological pathway for stress reduction.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
September 1, 2024
Noah R Wolkowicz, Mehmet Sofuoglu, Brian Pittman et al.
Attentional bias (AB) toward pain and opioid cues may be altered by delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in adults with opioid use disorder (OUD) receiving methadone. In a crossover trial, 27 participants received single oral doses of 10 mg THC, 20 mg THC, or placebo. Among those on high methadone doses (≥90 mg/day), 10 mg THC increased AB toward opioid cues, while 20 mg THC decreased it. Those on low methadone doses showed more variable opioid-related AB after THC. These preliminary results suggest THC produces dose-dependent effects on attention to opioid cues, warranting further study of cannabinoids in OUD.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
August 1, 2023
Igor D. Bandeira, Gustavo C. Leal, Fernanda S. Correia-Melo et al.
In a pilot trial of six people with bipolar I or II disorder who had been depressed for at least four weeks, two intravenous infusions of arketamine (0.5 mg/kg followed one week later by 1 mg/kg) rapidly reduced depression severity. Depression scores on the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale fell from a baseline mean of 36.66 to 27.83 one day after the first infusion and from 32.0 to 17.66 one day after the second infusion. The drug was well tolerated with almost no dissociation and no manic symptoms. The findings suggest arketamine has rapid-acting antidepressant properties for bipolar depression, consistent with earlier animal research on major depression.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
December 1, 2022
David H Rosmarin, Caroline C Kaufman, Stephanie Friree Ford et al.
A systematic review of 18 studies that simultaneously examined spirituality/religion (S/R), mental health, and neurobiology found that most studies were of moderate to high methodological quality. The review highlights the need for more research in this area, particularly studies that use validated assessments of S/R. The findings address the neurobiological correlates of S/R in relation to depression, anxiety, alcohol/substance misuse, and psychosis, but the relationships across all three domains remain unclear.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
September 30, 2021
A. Camargo, A. P. Dalmagro, I. A. Wolin et al.
A single injection of ketamine (5 mg/kg) given to mice one week before exposure to the inflammatory stressors lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) prevented depressive-like behaviors measured in the tail suspension test and splash test. A lower dose (1 mg/kg) did not have this effect. LPS increased markers of microglial activation and components of the NLRP3 inflammasome signaling pathway in the ventral hippocampus, while TNF-α only increased two of those components. Ketamine at 5 mg/kg, but not 1 mg/kg, blocked these increases. The findings suggest ketamine can promote resilience against inflammation-induced depressive-like behavior by suppressing NLRP3 inflammasome signaling.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
March 1, 2021
Junhong Yu, Iris Rawtaer, Lei Feng et al.
A nine-month mindfulness awareness program (MAP), compared with a health education program, improved working memory span and divided attention in older adults with mild cognitive impairment. Cortical thickness increased in the right frontal pole and decreased in the left anterior cingulate after nine months. An early increase in the left inferior temporal gyrus after three months did not persist. The results suggest that sustained mindfulness practice can produce cognitive and neuroplastic changes even in people with mild cognitive impairment.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
February 1, 2021
Davy Vancampfort, Brendon Stubbs, Tine Van Damme et al.
A systematic metareview of 17 meta-analyses found that meditation-based mind-body interventions, particularly mindfulness and yoga, can be effective supplements for mental disorders. Among meta-analyses with good methodological quality and content validity, large effect sizes were observed for mindfulness in schizophrenia and ADHD, a moderate effect size for mindfulness in PTSD, and a small effect size for yoga in schizophrenia. No serious adverse events were reported across 43 randomized controlled trials involving 1,774 participants in the mind-body intervention arms, and attrition rates were comparable to control conditions. The authors conclude that mindfulness and yoga may serve as efficacious supplements to pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy, while evidence for qigong and tai chi remains lacking.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
November 1, 2020
A. Errázuriz, K. Schmidt, E. Undurraga et al.
Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) reduces short-term psychological distress in non-physician health workers with patient contact, but effects are not maintained at four-month follow-up. In a three-arm randomized controlled trial, 105 participants were assigned to MBSR, a Stress Management Course (SMC), or a wait-list. MBSR reduced psychological distress on the GHQ-12 and OQ-45 compared to both SMC and wait-list post-intervention. Only MBSR was associated with a 23% decrease in the cortisol awakening response. At four-month follow-up, only the 'social role' subscale of psychological distress remained significantly improved versus SMC.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
April 26, 2020
A. Martínez-Pinteño, Susana García-Cerro, S. Mas et al.
A positive allosteric modulator of the metabotropic glutamate receptor 2, JNJ-46356479, partially reversed spatial working memory deficits and social motivation and memory impairments in a mouse model of schizophrenia induced by postnatal ketamine. The ketamine-treated mice also showed reduced parvalbumin-positive interneurons in the medial prefrontal cortex and dentate gyrus, along with increased c-Fos expression in the hippocampus; JNJ treatment normalized these neural markers. The results suggest that targeting mGluR2 could help improve cognitive and negative symptoms related to schizophrenia.