Age-Related Changes in Brain Excitability in Healthy Humans
It may be well-known that aging affects nearly every part of our lives – both good and bad. In particular, there have been a growing number of studies that look to see how aging impacts our brain, which is a field of research capable of driving our idea of what is “successful” aging, and how we might be able to support people’s health across the lifespan. Ferrari et al. (2017) use neurophysiological techniques to see how the brain responds to rTMS to investigate this topic.
Cognitive Impairment in Treatment-Resistant Depression
Depression is well-known to negatively impact mood, but relatively few studies have looked at how this disorder may impact cognition, or thinking ability. This is important because better cognitive ability is linked to better functioning in daily life (e.g., work or home responsibilities). This information could inform how we help people with depression. We do not know whether everyone with depression has difficulties with their cognition. We also do not know whether these difficulties span across all cognitive domains, or are specific to just a few (e.g., memory, learning). This study looked to answer these questions and identify what may predict worse cognitive impairment in those with treatment-resistant depression.