16/09/2025 - Institutional news
Immigrants develop their first psychotic episode earlier than native-born individuals-on average, three years earlier. According to the study, this is linked to accumulated trauma throughout life and the age at which migration begins. The research, conducted at Hospital del Mar in collaboration with the Hospital del Mar Research Institute and CIBERSAM, appears in the European Journal of Psychotraumatology.
Més informació "Study Assesses the Impact of Migration on the Mental Health of Immigrants"
09/09/2025 - Press release
A study published in Science identifies the complementary role of the main families of neurons in representing the environment. The work, coordinated by Dr. Manuel Valero, head of the Neural Computation Laboratory at the Hospital del Mar Research Institute, presents an open-access tool to analyze neuronal diversity. The tool is already freely available and can be applied to the study of other brain regions and of diseases such as Alzheimer's, epilepsy, major depression, and Down syndrome, paving the way for more specific therapeutic strategies.
Més informació "An artificial intelligence tool reveals how the brain orients itself in space"
31/07/2025 - Press release
This is indicated by the results of the PENSA study, a clinical trial conducted jointly by the Research Institute of Hospital del Mar and the Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center, the research center of the Pasqual Maragall Foundation. The study concludes that combining a healthy lifestyle program with epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a natural compound found in green tea, could offer sustained cognitive benefits in people at high risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Over the course of one year, around one hundred cognitively healthy volunteers, but in stages potentially prior to the onset of dementia, were monitored. They were divided into three groups. One group received only healthy lifestyle advice. The other two groups underwent a lifestyle improvement intervention program combined with either EGCG or placebo.
25/07/2025 - Press release
Researchers from the Hospital del Mar Research Institute and Yale University, in the United States, have demonstrated how the action of certain genes on precursor cells of brain formation can cause alterations linked to cortical malformations but also to the origin of neuropsychiatric diseases such as autism or bipolar disorder. The study, published in Nature Communications, is the first of its kind. It has been able to simulate the function of a list of nearly 3,000 genes linked to these pathologies during human brain development.
27/06/2025 - Press release
A study by the Hospital del Mar Research Institute, recently published in the journal PNAS, advances our understanding of how the brain makes decisions by participating in the storage of associations between different stimuli. The research has identified the importance of specific brain areas in these processes, particularly the amygdala and its relationship with parts of the cerebral cortex. This finding could lead to new therapeutic approaches for treating mental disorders such as psychosis or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study was conducted on mice, but the researchers believe that the mechanisms involved may be similar in humans.
Més informació "Understanding How the Brain Makes Decisions"
10/06/2025 - General information
The Spanish Society of Neurology has awarded the scientific career of the coordinator of the Multiple Sclerosis Unit at Hospital del Mar and the coordinator of the Neuroimmunology Research Group at its research institute. Dr. José Enrique Martínez received the 'Premio SEN Esclerosis Múltiple' on June 4th, during the Institutional Ceremony of the Spanish Society of Neurology, recognizing his scientific work in this field. These awards represent the SEN's recognition of individuals or entities that have contributed to the development of neurology.
Més informació "SEN Multiple Sclerosis Award for Dr. José Enrique Martínez"
27/05/2025 - Press release
A joint project between the three research institutions has been selected for funding by the XPRIZE Foundation of the United States. It will receive $250,000 to demonstrate that it is possible to extend human healthy lifespan. The VITA project proposes combining two existing molecules and a multimodal lifestyle intervention to extend quality of life during aging. The team formed by the three institutions now has one year to provide the first preliminary results and move on to a new stage of the awards, where the efficacy of the proposed new therapy will be assessed.
10/04/2025 - Institutional news
This initiative, aimed at supporting people with mild to moderate depression, is being relaunched with new and improved features. The goal is to enhance both user experience and accessibility. The project is an initiative of the European Alliance Against Depression (EAAD), in collaboration with the Mental Health area of CIBER (CIBERSAM), and led by the Hospital del Mar Research Institute in Spain.
09/04/2025 - Press release
A study involving more than 1,700 people from five hospitals in Barcelona, Sweden and Italy has validated the usefulness of a biomarker in blood to detect Alzheimer's disease in the clinical setting. The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, demonstrates that this test can be a useful and applicable tool in routine medical practice. The automated analysis of this biomarker is more than 90% effective in identifying patients with Alzheimer's disease. It is an easy-to-use tool that can partly replace other, more complex diagnostic tests, such as lumbar puncture or positron emission tomography (PET). The study has established cut-off points from which the patient's symptoms can be considered to be caused by Alzheimer's, if Alzheimer's disease can be ruled out, or if further tests are needed to determine the cause of the disease.
Més informació "A blood test for early detection of Alzheimer's disease"
25/03/2025 - General information
A new study led by researchers from the Hospital del Mar Research Institute and the Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), the research centre of the Pasqual Maragall Foundation, has made significant strides in the search for effective blood-based biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease early detection. The research, published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia, provides a comprehensive comparison of various plasma biomarkers and their accuracy in detecting Alzheimer's disease in a memory clinic setting.
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