A podcast discussion of Psychosomatic Medicine's special issue, "Diabetes, Obesity, and the Brain," Volume 77, Issue 6. Willem Kop, Editor-in-Chief of Psychosomatic Medicine, Susan A. Everson-Rose, and John Ryan discuss the cognitive problems and "accelerated aging" that can accompany diabetes and obesity. Dr. Rose is an associate editor of the journal. She and Dr. Ryan served as guest editors of the special issue.

A podcast discussion of the research article by Patrick Trotzke et al. published in the November-December 2014 Psychosomatic Medicine

A podcast discussion of an editorial by Dr. Kurt Kroenke published in October 2014 Psychosomatic Medicine. He discusses articles by Blumenthal et al. and Habibović et al.

A discussion of a new article that describes a study in which researchers tested electromagnetic pulses to the cortex to see how people respond when given the chance to eat some chips or chocolate. The research sheds light on the brain's executive function.

A panel discussion. Sleep disturbance is a key behavioral risk factor for several medical illnesses including cardiovascular disease and diabetes and is implicated in the pathogenesis of psychopathology, most prominently mood and anxiety disorders. For instance, prospective studies find poor sleep to be a significant and independent contributor to major depressive disorder and a common residual symptom upon remission. How sleep affects health and, in particular, psychopathology risk remains unclear; however, recent experimental evidence points to enhanced sensitivity to stressful or negative emotional stimuli.

This study is one of the first of its kind to investigate how positive indicators of psychological health (i.e., optimism) and physical health (i.e., serum antioxidants) might be associated. This study also adds to the relatively limited literature on psychosocial factors and serum antioxidant status.

As part of Psychosomatic Medicine's Special Series on Neuroscience in Health and Disease, the September 2012 issue of the journal (Volume 74, Issue 7) features two papers and an editorial related to body fat and possible connections with brain structure and function. Article: Increased Body Mass Index Is Associated With a Global and Distributed Decrease in White Matter Microstructural Integrity Article: Indirect Effects of Elevated Body Mass Index on Memory Performance Through Altered Cerebral Metabolite Concentrations

The risk of becoming ill after exposure to cold viruses is reduced by about half in parents compared to nonparents, regardless of pre-existing immunity, according to research led by Rodlescia S. Sneed, MPH, and Sheldon Cohen, PhD of Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh. The study suggests that other, yet unknown factors related to being a parent may affect susceptibility to illness.

Participants: Willem J. Kop, PhD, Editor-in-Chief, and Thomas Kubiak, PhD, who guest edited the special issue with Arthur Stone, PhD. Moderator: Victoria J. White, MA, ELS, Managing Editor for Manuscript Production.