all McLean Hospital stories

Safer stem cells for therapy

50443248 — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:20:53 -0400

When stem cell researchers in Japan and the United States announced in 2007 that they had developed long-sought methods to return fully developed adult human cells to an embryonic-like state, the world of stem cell research was turned upside down.

Is mother's love unconditional?

50443248 — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 07:29:00 -0400

Is an Ugly Baby Harder to Love?

50443248 — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 07:34:39 -0400

Study: Women look away more from abnormal babies

50443248 — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 07:39:48 -0400

Study: Women more likely than men to reject unattractive babies

50443248 — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:58:01 -0400

Women are more likely than men to reject unattractive-looking babies, according to a study by researchers at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital, possibly reflecting an evolutionary-derived need for diverting limited resources towards the nurturing of healthy offspring. The findings also challenge the idea of unconditional maternal love.

Researchers identify the brain’s on-off switch for fear

50443248 — Tue, 12 May 2009 12:42:56 -0400

Harvard researchers at McLean Hospital have identified a particular protein in the brain that serves as a trigger for the body’s innate fear response. This discovery suggests a potential target for the development of new medications aimed at treating anxiety, particularly generalized anxiety disorder, a condition that afflicts millions.

Study links steroid abuse to key biological, psychological characteristics

50443248 — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:35:07 -0400

A study by researchers at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital sheds new light on anabolic steroid users, augmenting previous research suggesting that users can become dependent on the drugs and showing for the first time that those who do become dependent tend to share certain biological and psychological characteristics.

The findings could help in understanding who is most likely to become dependent on anabolic steroids as well as aid in efforts to both prevent and treat steroid dependence.

A mother’s criticism touches nerve in formerly depressed

50443248 — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:05:25 -0400

Formerly depressed women show patterns of brain activity when they are criticized by their mothers that are distinctly different from the patterns shown by never-depressed controls, according to a new study from Harvard University.

The participants reported being completely well and fully recovered, yet their neural activity resembled that which has been observed in depressed individuals in other studies.

Hearing could hold key to unlocking schizophrenia mystery

50443248 — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:12:45 -0400

Measuring brain waves in response to hearing a variety of tones appears to be a useful way to begin understanding the underlying genetic abnormalities associated with schizophrenia, says a study headed by researchers at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital.

NIH awards Harvard Medical School $117.5 million, five-year grant for patient-centered research

404132862 — Thu, 29 May 2008 12:42:32 -0400

The National Institutes of Health today announced that Harvard Medical School (HMS) will receive $117.5 million over the next five years for the establishment of a Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC) that will transform patient-oriented, laboratory-to-bedside research at HMS and its affiliated hospitals.

Reprogrammed adult skin cells treat Parkinson's disease in animal model

404132862 — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:01:23 -0400

Researchers at the Whitehead Institute and Harvard Stem Cell Institute(HSCI) have reported successfully reducing symptoms in a Parkinson's disease rat model by using dopamine producing neurons derived from reprogrammed adult skin cells(iPS).

The work was reported in a study published in the online Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

Too much water can be life-threatening for marathoners

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 12:43:55 -0400

Runners who consume too much water or sports drinks during a marathon can develop a life-threatening condition called exercise-associated hyponatremia (EAH). Beyond drinking, however, researchers at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital report in the May 2007 issue of the American Journal of Medicine that this complication during endurance exercise is also the result of a hormonal stress response, which decreases urine formation and prevents the excretion of excess water.

New combination of treatments is effective for alcohol dependence

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 06:27:10 -0400

McLean Hospital researchers, along with colleagues from 11 other study sites nationwide, report that the medication naltrexone and up to 20 sessions of alcohol counseling delivered by a behavioral specialist are equally effective treatments for alcohol dependence when delivered with structured medical management in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Results from the National Institutes of Health-supported Combining Medications and Behavioral Interventions for Alcoholism (COMBINE) study show that patients who received naltrexone, specialized alcohol counseling, or both demonstrated the best drinking outcomes after 16 weeks of outpatient treatment. All patients also received Medical Management, an intervention that consisted of nine brief, structured outpatient sessions provided by a health care professional. Contrary to expectations, the researchers found no effect on drinking of the medication acamprosate and no additive benefit from adding acamprosate to naltrexone.

"This was the largest clinical trial looking at the effectiveness of pharmacologic and behavioral treatments for alcohol dependence ever conducted and the results are promising," said Roger Weiss, clinical director of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Program for McLean Hospital, a Harvard Medical School affiliate. Weiss was also the principal investigator of COMBINE for the McLean study site.

Binge eating disorder may have genetic ties, McLean Hospital study finds

50443248 — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 09:58:56 -0400

Researchers at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital have reported that binge eating disorder runs in families, raising the possibility that this condition may have a genetic basis.

Binge eating disorder may have genetic ties

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 06:25:14 -0400

Researchers at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital have reported that binge eating disorder runs in families, raising the possibility that this condition may have a genetic basis.

In the study, published in the March 6, 2006 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, the researchers found that family members of obese individuals with binge eating disorder were twice as likely to suffer from the condition as were family members of obese individuals who did not have a history of binge eating.