Seasonal Affective Disorder

The duration of exposure to daylight, or the “photoperiod,” may affect development of seasonal affective disorder by programming serotonin neurons in the brain, according to Vanderbilt University researchers. Read More

(iStockphoto) Vanderbilt psychiatrist Judith Akin, M.D., who frequently counsels people who are having a hard time through the holidays, has a quick guideline: set a course “between Hallmark and heartache” and aim to have a “pretty good little Christmas.” In other words, she says,… Read More

Vanderbilt biologists have localized the seasonal light cycle effects that drive seasonal affective disorder to a small region of the brain called the dorsal raphe nucleus. Read More