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Air pollution is associated with depressive symptoms in adolescents. Researchers at the University of Denver found that even in neighbourhoods that met air quality standards, exposure to ozone gas lead to symptoms like sadness, difficulties concentrating and thoughts of suicide in adolescents over time. [More]

A new study published in the Journal of Child Development looked at the effects of napping on preschool children’s learning of letter-sound mappings. The research was carried out by faculty of the Macquarie University in Australia, the University of Oxford, the University of York and the University of Sheffield. “We know that letter-sound learning is essential for early reading acquisition, so we want to explore factors that may help with learning this skill,” study author Dr. Hua-Chen Wang told us. “Sleep has been found to enhance learning. As such, this study looks at whether there's a nap for learning letter-sound associations.” [More]

A new study published in the Journal of Neurobiology of Disease looked at organelle dysfunction in human astrocytes in Alzheimer’s Disease. “We have analyzed transcriptomic data (gene-expression data) from almost 800 patients with Alzheimer’s disease and controls to look for molecular signatures of astrocytes, a type of brain cell. Transcriptomes contain information about the cell genome, over 30,000 genes,” study author Elena Galea told us. [More]

A new study published in PubMed looked at the association between workplace absenteeism and alcohol use disorder from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. “The goal of our study was to estimate the relationship between lost work time (missed workdays) and alcohol use disorder among full time workers in the US,” study author Laura Bierut told us. “We used a large nationally representative US database to study this issue.” [More]

Those who have had COVID-19 are at increased risk of mental health problems. A study published in The BMJ found that people who survived COVID-19 had a higher chance of developing problems like anxiety, suicide ideation, depression, opioid use disorder, sleep difficulties and substance abuse. [More]

A new study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health looked at the displacement and isolation of Syrian refugees in Texas. “We initiated a study in the Houston-based Syrian refugee population to examine their post-migratory living conditions, trauma susceptibility and resiliency to gain understanding of their physical and mental well-being,” study author Samina Salim told us. Salim is an associate professor of pharmacology at the University of Houston, College of Pharmacy. [More]

Being a confident cook isn’t just beneficial for the taste buds but also for mental health. Researchers from Edith Cowan University in Australia found that those who engaged in a 7-week healthy cooking class had improved confidence in the kitchen as well as better general and mental health. [More]

Stress in the United States is at an all time high, according to a poll conducted on behalf of the American Psychological Association (APA). The poll showed that top sources of stress for people in the United States were an increase in prices due to inflation, issues with the supply chain, global uncertainty and Russia invading Ukraine. [More]

A new study published in PLOS Biology looked at recommendations for daytime, evening, and nighttime indoor light exposure to best support physiology, sleep, and wakefulness in healthy adults. “It has been known for some time that our daily patterns of light exposure exert important influences on health and well-being by regulating our internal body clock, cycles of hormone release, night-time sleep and daytime alertness,” study author Timothy Brown told us. [More]

A new study says perinatal mental illness rates have tripled during the pandemic. The study looked at the experiences of 670 women in the U.S. between February and July 2020. The women completed an online survey that contained the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Researchers found that one in three women screened positive for postpartum depression and one in five had major depressive symptoms. [More]