On its “All Things Considered” program and in its “Shots” blog, NPR (12/24, Hamilton) reported on “growing evidence that pot can affect brain circuits involved in” post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). According to Andrew Holmes, a researcher at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, experiments using animals indicate that “tetrahydrocannabinol [THC], the chemical that gives marijuana its feel-good qualities, acts on a system in the brain that is ‘critical for fear and anxiety modulation.’” However, Holmes “and other brain scientists caution that marijuana has serious drawbacks as a potential treatment for PTSD.” The effects of THC are not lasting, and marijuana has side effects including impairment of motor skills and short-term memory loss.

Related Links:

— “Could Pot Help Veterans With PTSD? Brain Scientists Say Maybe, “Jon Hamilton, NPR, December 24, 2013.

USA Today (12/27, Weintraub) reports, “Having a serious concussion could be a risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s decades later – though not everyone with head trauma will lose their memory,” according to a study published Dec. 26 in the journal Neurology.

The Los Angeles Times (12/27, Mohan) reports that “elderly people who have both mild cognitive impairment [MCI] and a history of serious concussion showed higher amounts of the protein deposits associated with Alzheimer’s disease.” For the study, researchers “enlisted 589 elderly residents of surrounding Olmsted County, beginning in 2004, and administered a battery of cognitive and memory tests, along with brain scans that reveal both structure and metabolic function.”

Related Links:

— “Alzheimer’s risk tied to concussions in some, “Karen Weintraub, USA Today, December 27, 2013.

The Washington Post (12/24, Searing) reports that according to a study published Dec. 17 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, “at least for men, taking multivitamins doesn’t seem to benefit the brain.” The 12-year study, which involved some 5,947 aged 65 and older who were randomized either to a multivitamin or placebo, revealed “no difference…in the average cognitive ability or rate of cognitive decline between men who were taking a multivitamin and those who were not.”

Related Links:

— “Study asks: Do multivitamins help stave off cognitive problems in older men?, “Linda Searing, , December 23, 2013.

In print and in the New York Times (12/23, D3) “Well” blog, psychiatrist Richard A. Friedman, MD, of the Weill Cornell Medical College, observes, “Of all the major illnesses, mental or physical, depression has been one of the toughest to subdue.” Now, “at a time when federal research funds are shrinking and major drug companies have all but shuttered their brain research programs, enlightened philanthropists and entrepreneurs are helping to open a promising new pathway for neuroscience research: collaboration among researchers willing and able to take thoughtful risks and solve big problems.” Dr. Friedman also quotes Huda Akil, psychiatry professor at the University of Michigan, who points out that the strength behind the Hope for Depression Research Foundation is the fact that scientists there “‘can think about big ideas and take risks without worrying about what grant reviewers’ – like the National Institute of Mental Health, the major source of federal funding for psychiatric research – ‘might think.’”

Related Links:

— “A New Focus on Depression, “Richard A. Friedman, The New York Times, December 23, 2013.

In a cover piece for the Atlantic (12/23, Stossel) in which he describes his long-life struggle with anxiety, Scott Stossel, editor of the Atlantic and author of the upcoming book, “My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind,” writes, “According to the National Institute of Mental Health, some 40 million American adults, about one in six, are suffering from some kind of anxiety disorder at any given time; based on the most recent data from the Department of Health and Human Services, their treatment accounts for more than a quarter of all spending on mental-health care.” He adds, “Today, the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (now in its just-published fifth edition, DSM-5) defines hundreds of mental disorders,” including anxiety. After recounting his difficulties with treatments and medication, Stossel looks at the bright side of the matter, noting that “anxiety is productive mainly when it is not so strong as to be debilitating,” improving job performance, for example.

Related Links:

— “Surviving Anxiety, “Scott Stossel , The Atlantic, December 22, 2013.