TL;DR: A 2026 medRxiv preprint found that pupil dilation measured inside a virtual reality (VR) headset increased as working-memory load rose in healthy adults, was reproducible 60–90 days later in 33 returnees, and was smaller under the highest load in cognitively impaired patient cohorts than in 81 healthy controls. Key Findings Forty-three healthy adults completed …
TL;DR: A 2026 randomized training study in Nature Communications found that sensory-guided joint learning—a combination of performance-triggered wrist vibration, Copy/New strategy cues, and an adaptive electroencephalography (EEG) decoder—produced a 19.0-percentage-point improvement in motor-imagery brain-computer interface (BCI) accuracy in healthy BCI-naïve adults, versus 6.3 and 3.0 points in two control groups. Key Findings Thirty-one healthy adults …
TL;DR: A 2026 mouse study in Nature Communications reported that 10 daily bouts of optogenetic dentate-gyrus stimulation produced weeks-long changes in chromatin, nuclear structure, behavior, and spatial coding, while Cyclin B deletion weakened several effects; this ECT-inspired model does not establish how electroconvulsive therapy works in people. Key Findings Ten stimulation sessions produced the durable …
TL;DR: A 2026 randomized study in Psychological Medicine reported that 7–10 days of prucalopride improved word-learning recall and working-memory response speed versus placebo in adults with remitted recurrent depression, but the 49-person analysis did not test durability, daily functioning, or relapse prevention. Key Findings Short randomized exposure: Researchers analyzed 49 adults ages 18–40 after 7–10 …
TL;DR: A 2026 Phase 2 trial in The British Journal of Psychiatry found that 10 mg emestedastat did not improve attention and working memory after six weeks in adults with major depressive disorder and objectively measured cognitive impairment. A nominal depression-score difference appeared four weeks after treatment ended, but it was secondary, unadjusted for multiple …
TL;DR: A 2026 Developmental Psychology randomized-trial follow-up found that children assigned to high-quality foster care after severe early deprivation had better adaptive functioning at age 18, especially in communication and socialization, than children who remained in care as usual. Key Findings Trial follow-up: The analysis used the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, a randomized trial comparing …
TL;DR: A 2026 randomized active-control study in European Journal of Sport Science found that one 45-minute slackline practice session improved eyes-open slackline balance and increased resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) beta power in healthy slackline-naive adults, while eyes-closed balance and tibial somatosensory evoked potentials did not show the same selective change. Key Findings 35-person randomized sample: Researchers …
TL;DR: A 2025 medRxiv fMRI preprint linked higher apathy in both traumatic brain injury (TBI) and control groups to greater effort discounting, while TBI-related apathy was also associated with less exploratory decision-making and weaker neural encoding of differences between expected and received rewards. Key Findings 53-person fMRI sample: Researchers analyzed 34 people with chronic TBI …
TL;DR: A 2026 study in Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found that after 12 months of watchful waiting for mild pediatric sleep-disordered breathing, only 13% of children progressed on polysomnography (PSG), an overnight sleep study, but 57% had persistent or worsening caregiver-reported symptoms. Key Findings 234 observed children: The analysis used the watchful-waiting arm of …
TL;DR: A 2026 medRxiv preprint used functional MRI (fMRI) and complex harmonics decomposition to study mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in 80 people with major depressive disorder, reporting post-treatment changes in whole-brain manifolds during rumination. Key Findings 80-patient trial sample: The preprint analyzed fMRI data from a randomized controlled trial in major depressive disorder. MBCT plus TAU: …
