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Scientists have uncovered a mysterious network of brain connections that is linked to ... schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, addiction, OCD and anxiety — that share this underlying circuitry... Some "nodes" in the circuit have been linked to psychiatric disorders in the past, while others...are instead linked to key aspects of cognitive function, like selective attention and sensory processing... The team pinpointed brain regions where gray matter had atrophied, or shrunk, in the context of psychiatric disorders. [T]he disorders still had something in common: the tangled network of wires that runs between all these pockets of atrophy in the brain. The...

How bad do things have to get before people start realizing that we are in the midst of a full-blown economic crisis? The “experts” on television are endlessly debating about whether or not we are going to have a “recession” this year, and meanwhile economic activity is imploding all around us. The number of homes being sold in this country each month has already fallen by a third. The number of job cuts in November was 417 percent higher than it was during the same month a year earlier, and at this point even Amazon is laying off thousands of...

Imagine this. You meet a charming man with whom you seem to have an instant connection. This man constantly flatters you, praises you, and makes you feel like you are on top of the world. He gives you gifts, he treats you to fancy meals, and he seems so attentive to all of your needs. You quickly open up to him, sharing with him your deepest desires and dreams. Perhaps you even feel like you are sharing with him secrets about your life that you have not shared with anyone else. You appreciate how he listens and how he seems...

The District is still stuck in a pandemic funk. Most days, the city, especially the core downtown blocks around the White House, looks more like a ghost town than a vibrant capital city. Before the coronavirus shutdown, visitors to Washington were often in awe of how many cranes punctuated the skyline. Now, it’s hard to find a building without a “for rent” sign. Coffee shops and restaurants are serving limited hours, if they’re open at all. Hopes were high for a revival this fall. Schools reopened. Covid cases were way down. Businesses were calling their employees back. But the city...

Jeff Bezos has warned a US recession is looming, and advised consumers and businesses to stockpile cash in case there's a devastating downturn. "The economy does not look great right now," Amazon's billionaire founder and executive chairman told CNN on Saturday. "Things are slowing down, you're seeing layoffs in many, many sectors of the economy," he continued. "The probabilities say if we're not in a recession right now, we're likely to be in one very soon." Bezos recommended American households delay big-ticket purchases such as new TVs, refrigerators, and cars, given the risk that economic conditions worsen. Similarly, he suggested...

Small businesses are struggling to pay rent due to higher rent inflation and fewer customers. The struggles vary by type of business. ... Record Surge in Small Business Delinquencies Alignable reports Record Surge In Rent Delinquency: Up 7% In October, Totaling 37% For U.S. SMBs Due to ongoing economic challenges, small business owners' ability to pay their full rent on time in October took a major hit based on a new Alignable poll. In fact, the U.S. rent delinquency rate among small businesses jumped 7% in just one month, marking the largest, most rapid increase in 2022. In September, rent...

Making bank doesn’t mean you have loot saved in the bank. Roughly 45% of those making more than $100,000 say they live paycheck to paycheck; 47% of those making between $150,000 and $200,000-a-year; and 28% of those making over $200,000, a new report from PYMNTS.com found. What’s more, a 2022 survey from LendingClub revealed that 30% of those earning $250,000 or more live paycheck to paycheck. And that’s too bad, as many savings accounts are now paying more than they have in a decade — see the highest rates you may get on a savings account now here. “The combination...

Why are there so few workers for so many open jobs? It’s one of the biggest mysteries about the U.S. economy and helps explain why a big labor shortage is adding to high inflation. The share of people in the labor force fell again in October and remains more than a percentage point below its pre-pandemic peak. That might not sound like much, but it is. The smaller percentage of people who are part of the labor force suggests some 1 million to 2 million people who normally would be working are not. Since there’s not enough workers to go...

-Depression is a mood disorder that affects many people and it can impact people’s beliefs and how they respond to information. -K​etamine is a drug that is typically used as an anesthetic that is also used recreationally, however, its use as a treatment for depression is not fully understood. -A​ new study found that the administration of ketamine could help people develop more optimistic beliefs after receiving positive information. -Depression impacts millions of people in the United States alone, but the disorder can be challenging to treat. Some people do not respond well to the typical medications or therapies doctors...

Roubini, a professor of economics at New York University’s Stern School of Business and the founder and chairman of Roubini Global Economics, is the author of MegaThreats: Ten Dangerous Trends That Imperil Our Future, and How to Survive Them, from which this essay is adapted Inflation is back, and it is rising sharply, especially over the past year, owing to a mix of both demand and supply factors. This rise in inflation may not be a short-term phenomenon: the Great Moderation of the past three decades may be over, and we may be entering a new era of Great Stagflationary...

The Federal Reserve’s fight to squash inflation will cause the US economy to start losing tens of thousands of jobs a month beginning early next year, Bank of America warns. Although the jobs market remained surprisingly strong in September, the Fed is working hard to change that by aggressively raising interest rates to ease demand for everything from cars and homes to appliances. The pace of job growth is expected to be roughly cut in half during the fourth quarter of this year, Bank of America told clients in a report Friday.

he vast majority of Americans, by far, are worse off today under Democratic rule than they were when Republicans controlled Congress and Donald Trump was president. Less than two years after Trump’s reelection was stolen from him, most Americans are now living paycheck to paycheck as #Bidenflationary policies from the regime and massive congressional Democrat spending have combined to drive up prices for everything from energy to housing and food. “As of August, 60% of Americans were living paycheck to paycheck, according to a recent LendingClub report — a number that hasn’t budged much since inflation hit 40-year highs. A...

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the US. Experts recommend many strategies and treatments to decrease the risk of suicide. Few would put folic acid supplements on that list. The study found patients who filled prescriptions for folic acid, also known as vitamin B9, experienced a 44% reduction in suicidal events (suicide attempts and intentional self-harm). Robert Gibbons, Ph.D. became interested in folic acid in the context of suicide because of a previous study between risk of attempting suicide and 922 different prescribed drugs. The study simultaneously screened each drug for associations with suicide attempts. Surprisingly,...

Gary Webb's Final Days Tue Jan 25, 6:34 PM ET NEW YORK As with nearly every suicide, there is far more to the death of Gary Webb than meets the eye. Although his downward spiral following his departure from the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News provides a pat story line, the devil is really in the details -- and extends to a wide range of family and health issues, as well as a stolen motorcycle. In fact, after spending several years away from full-time journalism, Webb was beginning to stage a comeback in late 2004. But then a series of...

The US housing market is in the midst of a “deep recession” that could put pressure on the Federal Reserve to ease up on interest rate hikes, a prominent economist warned on Monday. Homebuilder confidence declined for the ninth straight month in September as surging mortgage rates and steep prices pushed many buyers out of the market, according to the National Association of Home Builders. Builder confidence fell to its lowest level since 2014 when excluding the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the index showed. The prolonged downturn in confidence shows the housing market has been “in a tailspin...

Oil prices slumped Monday, falling by more than 3% on fears that slowing global economic growth will weigh on crude demand ahead of likely new large interest rate hikes by a number of central banks, including the Federal Reserve. By 08:35 ET (12:35 GMT), U.S. crude futures traded 3.4% lower at $81.88 a barrel, while the Brent contract fell 3% to $88.59. U.S. Gasoline RBOB Futures were down 2.8% at $2.3474 a gallon. Both benchmarks suffered their third consecutive negative week last week, and this selling has continued Monday as traders fretted that aggressive monetary tightening by a number of...

The US economy is in the middle of an unusual “stagflation” period and lacks enough workers to meet spiking demand because of the Biden administration’s policies, FedEx founder and chairman Fred Smith said. Smith delivered his grim view of the economy after stocks tanked on FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam’s warning of a looming “worldwide recession.” The FedEx chairman blamed government programs that poured money into an overheated economy for sapping demand from the labor market. “We’re sort of in a stagnation, stagflation period, because you have this tremendous demand, but we’re still one percentage point, in terms of lower labor...

Walmart, Target, Macy’s and Kohl’s are among retailers that have recently said they are canceling some orders to better balance inventory levels, a replay of a strategy used at the start of the pandemic. Other steps retailers are using to clear inventories as spending has slowed on some non-discretionary categories are employing markdowns and packing away products for the following year. The elevated inventory levels also reflect intentional over-buying to mitigate shortages and the easing of supply chain constraints. One risk of canceling orders is straining or damaging relationships with trading partners. After the pandemic arrived, many retailers were called...

FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam told CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday that he believes a recession is impending for the global economy. “I think so. But you know, these numbers, they don’t portend very well,” Subramaniam said in response to Cramer’s question of whether the economy is “going into a worldwide recession.” The CEO’s pessimism came after FedEx missed estimates on revenue and earnings in its first quarter. The company also withdrew its full-year guidance. Shares of FedEx fell 15% in extended trading on Thursday. “I’m very disappointed in the results that we just announced here, and you know, the headline...

The chance of an economic "soft landing" has faded, and the Fed is pushing for a "growth recession." The phrase describes a period of below-average growth, rising unemployment, and slowing inflation. The Fed chair said that while it'd "bring some pain," letting inflation stay high would be worse. In an ideal world, the Federal Reserve has already vanquished pandemic-era inflation while keeping unemployment at historic lows and avoiding a recession. Hopes for such an outcome are all but entirely dashed, and the Fed has switched to plan B. The central bank's message at its annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming,...