Country-level gender inequality is associated with structural differences in the brains of women and men.

Gender inequality across the world has been associated with a higher risk to mental health problems and lower academic achievement in women compared to men. We also know that the brain is shaped by nurturing and adverse socio-environmental experiences. Therefore, unequal exposure to harsher conditions for women compared to men in gender-unequal countries might be reflected in differences in their brain structure, and this could be the neural mechanism partly explaining women's worse outcomes in gender-unequal countries.

Improved quality of life and reduced depressive symptoms in medical students after a single-session intervention.

Objective: Anxiety and depression are prevalent among medical students. Brazilian medical students have higher levels of depression and lower quality of life than their U.S.

Cardiovascular risk and bipolar disorder: factors associated with a positive coronary calcium score in patients with bipolar disorder type 1.

Objective: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in patients with bipolar disorder. The aim of this study was to evaluate the factors associated with positive coronary calcium score (CCS) in individuals with bipolar disorder type 1.

Methods: Patients from the Bipolar Disorder Program at Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil, underwent computed tomography scanning for calcium score measurement.

Interest in research among medical students: Challenges for the undergraduate education.

Introduction:: In recent decades, there has been a reduction in the number of graduates from medical schools who choose to pursue a career in scientific research. That has an impact on the profile of graduates, since medical education depends on understanding the formation of scientific evidence. The construction of new knowledge is also hampered by the reduction of medical scientists, whose clinical experience with patients provides an essential step towards medical Science evolution.

Verbal episodic memory along the course of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: a new perspective.

Impairment on episodic memory (EM) has been strongly correlated with psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BD). Morevover, the effects of course and progression of the illness on cognitive functioning have not been well established. The aim of the present study is to assess performance of episodic memory in BD and SZ according to their clinical stages.

Functional and psychological features immediately after discharge from an intensive care unit: prospective cohort study.

Objective: To assess the functional and psychological features of patients immediately after discharge from the intensive care unit.

Methods: Prospective cohort study. Questionnaires and scales assessing the degree of dependence and functional capacity (modified Barthel and Karnofsky scales) and psychological problems (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), in addition to the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, were administered during interviews conducted over the first week after intensive care unit discharge, to all survivors who had been admitted to this service from August to November 2012 and had remained longer than 72 hours.

Daytime sleepiness, sleep disturbance and functioning impairment in bipolar disorder.

Objective: To verify the prevalence and clinical impact of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) in outpatients with bipolar disorder.

Methods: Eighty-one outpatients with bipolar disorder and 79 healthy control subjects were recruited. Patients were required not to be acutely manic or depressed.