Mood

This Is Your Brain on Depression, Grades 9-12

Understanding Mood

How do moods differ from emotions? Can you alter your mood safely? Find out in our new Brain Basics article

Neurosteroids: A Major Step Forward

Research that began three-quarters of a century ago has led to one of the first new drugs to treat depression in 60 years—and the potential to treat much more.

Understanding the Links between Social Media and Depression

It’s more what people do on social media and less how much time they spend doing it that affects mood, suggests a new study.

How Do You Mend a Broken Heart? New Insights into the Links Between Depression and Cardiovascular Disease

Many people with low mood also carry higher risk for heart troubles, and vice versa. Inflammation may be a conduit for both.

Depression: Treatment Beyond Medication

The American College of Physicians new clinical practice guidelines suggest that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an equally viable choice to treat adults with depression.

The Search for the Signature of Depression

Using longitudinal studies of families and brain imaging of children, researchers find potential biomarkers of risk.

Inflammation Dampens Reward Circuits in Depression

Growing evidence of a link between inflammation and mood suggests new pathways to possible treatments.

Feeling Our Way: The Challenge of Studying Emotion and the Brain

While scientists are learning how important emotional input is to nearly every aspect of cognition, behavior, and disease, understanding how that works is a tangled puzzle.

Holiday Blues: Getting the Facts, Forgetting the Myth

Statistics refute a common myth that suicides increase during the winter holidays, but that doesn’t mean that holiday depression or sadness isn’t real for some people. Experts weigh in on what factors may contribute to these “holiday blues” and offer ways to cope with stress.