Dentate Nucleus Deep Brain Stimulation Improved Cerebellar Ataxia Symptoms Across 27 Patients in Systematic Review

Dentate Nucleus Deep Brain Stimulation Improved Cerebellar Ataxia Symptoms Across 27 Patients in Systematic Review

TL;DR: A 2026 systematic review in The Cerebellum found that deep brain stimulation (DBS) produced modest symptom improvement in selected cerebellar ataxia patients, with dentate nucleus stimulation most common in humans and interposed nucleus stimulation emerging from animal studies. Key Findings Dentate nucleus is the dominant human DBS target: Across 15 clinical studies (27 patients), …

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Amygdala-ACC Connectivity Was Reduced in Anxiety Disorders Meta-Analysis

Amygdala-ACC Connectivity Was Reduced in Anxiety Disorders Meta-Analysis

TL;DR: A 2026 meta-analysis in Psychological Medicine found that reduced resting-state connectivity between the amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex was the most robust brain-network difference in anxiety disorders. Key Findings 15 datasets: The meta-analysis pooled 14 studies with 15 independent datasets of amygdala-based resting-state functional MRI. 783 total participants: Included samples covered 378 people with …

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AI Identified CgA-KO/PS19 Mouse Model of Asymptomatic Alzheimer’s Resilience

AI Identified CgA-KO/PS19 Mouse Model of Asymptomatic Alzheimer’s Resilience

TL;DR: A 2026 study in Acta Neuropathologica Communications used Boolean-network AI analysis of Alzheimer’s RNA-seq data to identify a 40-gene disease signature and validate CgA-KO/PS19 mice as a model of asymptomatic Alzheimer’s-like resilience. Key Findings 289-person training set: Boolean Network Explorer was trained on cortical RNA-seq data from 70 cognitively normal controls and 219 Alzheimer’s …

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Psychosis in Lupus Linked to Immune Disease Activity in Review

Psychosis in Lupus Linked to Immune Disease Activity in Review

TL;DR: A 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis in Lupus found that psychosis affected about 4.5% of adults with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), was more common in neuropsychiatric SLE, and tracked most strongly with active immune disease markers rather than serving as a stand-alone psychiatric label. Key Findings Sixty-five studies were included: The review covered 31,495 …

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Head Impact MEG Changes Mapped to Neurochemical Brain Systems

Head Impact MEG Changes Mapped to Neurochemical Brain Systems

TL;DR: A 2026 preprint in medRxiv found that head-impact-related magnetoencephalography (MEG) changes in high-school football players were strongest in cortical regions matching specific neurotransmitter and gene-expression maps, especially norepinephrine, nicotinic acetylcholine, APOE, and BDNF-related patterns. Key Findings MEG tracked pre-to-post-season brain signaling across 278 timepoints from 91 male high-school football players. Concussion-related cortical slowing aligned …

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fMRI Noise Signal Tracked Nicotine Craving and Stimulant Effects

fMRI Noise Signal Tracked Nicotine Craving and Stimulant Effects

TL;DR: A 2026 study in Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science found that systemic low-frequency oscillation (sLFO), a slow whole-body physiology readout usually treated as functional MRI noise, tracked nicotine dependence, cue-induced craving, abstinence, and stimulant-related task performance across four fMRI cohorts. Key Findings The study analyzed four fMRI cohorts: Researchers examined a 64-person cigarette cue-reactivity …

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Early Psychosis Linked to Work and Education Disruption in SEEearly Cohort

Early Psychosis Linked to Work and Education Disruption in SEEearly Cohort

TL;DR: A 2026 study in European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience found that more than half of 184 young adults entering an early-psychosis supported employment and education trial were not in work, school, or training, even though nearly all had finished at least lower- or upper-secondary schooling. Key Findings The SEEearly cohort included 184 …

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Blood miRNAs Linked to Hippocampal Volume and Brain Atrophy

Blood miRNAs Linked to Hippocampal Volume and Brain Atrophy

TL;DR: A 2026 Molecular Psychiatry study linked blood-derived microRNAs, short RNA regulators that help control gene expression, to left hippocampal volume and later brain atrophy in adults from the Rhineland Study. Key Findings Baseline MRI cohort: Researchers compared blood microRNA expression in 2,062 adults with baseline MRI measures of left and right hippocampal volume, hippocampal …

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Youth Cannabis Use Linked to Flatter Cognitive Development

Youth Cannabis Use Linked to Flatter Cognitive Development

TL;DR: A 2026 Neuropsychopharmacology study of 11,036 ABCD participants found youth who initiated cannabis use showed flatter cognitive-development trajectories from ages 9 to 17, with hair-detected THC linked to worse episodic-memory change. Key Findings 11,036 youth were followed: Researchers used the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study to track neurocognitive performance from late childhood into …

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Young Men Reported More Dominance-Seeking Moral Grandstanding

Young Men Reported More Dominance-Seeking Moral Grandstanding

TL;DR: A 2026 study in Political Psychology found that men ages 18 to 35 reported the highest levels of dominance-seeking moral grandstanding, a form of moral expression aimed at putting opponents down rather than only defending a belief. Key Findings Dominance-seeking moral grandstanding was highest among men ages 18 to 35. Four-country survey: 8,420 adults …

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