Drugs & Medications

Methylphenidate Reduced Dishonesty in Healthy Adults Compared to Placebo in Double-Blind Trial

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Methylphenidate Reduced Dishonesty in Healthy Adults Compared to Placebo in Double-Blind Trial

TL;DR: A 2026 double-blind trial in Psychopharmacology found that methylphenidate reduced cheating in healthy adults compared with placebo, contrary to survey respondents’ expectations about smart drugs. Key Findings Methylphenidate reduced dishonesty vs placebo: A double-blind placebo-controlled experiment in healthy adults showed methylphenidate (Ritalin) reduced cheating behavior compared to placebo — the opposite direction from what …

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Late-Window Stroke IVT Did Not Improve Thrombectomy Outcomes

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Late-Window Stroke IVT Did Not Improve Thrombectomy Outcomes

TL;DR: A 2026 medRxiv preprint found that giving intravenous thrombolysis (IVT), a clot-dissolving drug treatment, before endovascular thrombectomy (EVT), a catheter procedure to remove a large brain clot, did not significantly improve 3-month recovery or increase bleeding risk in selected stroke patients treated 6 to 24 hours after symptoms began. Key Findings Registry cohort: The …

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Oral Acetate Case Series Found Metabolic Improvements in Psychotropic Weight Gain

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Oral Acetate Case Series Found Metabolic Improvements in Psychotropic Weight Gain

TL;DR: A 2026 case-series study in Translational Psychiatry tested delayed-release oral acetate from apple cider vinegar capsules in 11 young adults taking psychotropic medications and found high adherence, no product-related adverse events, microbiome shifts, and metabolic improvement in 6 participants, but the uncontrolled design means the findings need placebo-controlled testing. Key Findings 11 completers: The …

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Ketamine’s Antidepressant Pathway Reverse-Engineered: Low-Dose Three-Drug Combination Reproduced Effect in Mice

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Ketamine's Antidepressant Pathway Reverse-Engineered: Low-Dose Three-Drug Combination Reproduced Effect in Mice

TL;DR: A 2026 mouse study in Cell traced ketamine’s rapid antidepressant-like effect to mu-opioid receptors on somatostatin-positive interneurons in the medial prefrontal cortex. Low-dose multi-GPCR targeting reproduced ketamine-like effects in mice, but the exact three compound names were not listed in the public source material verified here. Key Findings Cell target: ketamine’s rapid mouse effect …

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Caudal Insular-to-Somatosensory Pathway Was Necessary and Sufficient for Neuropathic Pain in Rats

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Caudal Insular-to-Somatosensory Pathway Was Necessary and Sufficient for Neuropathic Pain in Rats

TL;DR: A 2025 rat study in The Journal of Neuroscience found that caudal granular insular cortex (CGIC) projections to primary somatosensory cortex (SI) were required for neuropathic pain behavior, while activating the same pathway produced allodynia, or pain from harmless touch, in healthy rats. Key Findings CGIC-to-SI projections are necessary for neuropathic pain: Multiweek chemogenetic …

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Lurasidone 40 mg Improved Five PANSS Symptom Domains in Acute Schizophrenia

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Lurasidone 40 mg Improved Five PANSS Symptom Domains in Acute Schizophrenia

TL;DR: A 2026 post-hoc analysis in International Clinical Psychopharmacology found that lurasidone 40 mg/day improved all 5 Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) symptom domains in acute schizophrenia over 6 weeks, with the largest effect on positive symptoms and later improvement in negative symptoms. Key Findings 483 randomized patients: The JEWEL phase 3 trial assigned …

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IGF1R Inhibitors Improved Mouse Healthspan but Raised Safety Concerns

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IGF1R Inhibitors Improved Mouse Healthspan but Raised Safety Concerns

TL;DR: A 2026 mouse preprint in bioRxiv reported that small-molecule IGF1R inhibitors, drugs that block insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor signaling, protected several healthspan measures in aging mice, but the tested compounds also carried major safety and drug-development problems. Key Findings 150 aging mice: Researchers assigned 55-week-old C57BL/6 mice to control diet, PPP, or NVP-ADW742, …

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Psilocybin Increased 6-Month Smoking Abstinence to 40% vs 10% on Nicotine Patch

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Psilocybin Increased 6-Month Smoking Abstinence to 40% vs 10% on Nicotine Patch

TL;DR: A 2026 randomized clinical trial in JAMA Network Open found that one supervised 30 mg/70 kg psilocybin dose plus cognitive behavioral therapy produced 40.5% six-month smoking abstinence versus 10.0% with a nicotine patch plus the same therapy. Key Findings 40.5% vs. 10% prolonged abstinence at 6 months: 17 of 42 psilocybin participants stayed biochemically …

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Solriamfetol Improved Sleepiness in Early Shift Work

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Solriamfetol Improved Sleepiness in Early Shift Work

TL;DR: A 2026 study in NEJM Evidence found that solriamfetol added 9.4 minutes of objective wakefulness in early-morning shift work disorder after 4 weeks, without a higher overall adverse-event rate than placebo. Key Findings 78 early-morning workers: Participants had excessive sleepiness linked to shifts starting between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. Randomized double-blind design: The …

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Cocaine-Alcohol Use Changed PL-to-NAc Relapse Circuit in Rats

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Cocaine-Alcohol Use Changed PL-to-NAc Relapse Circuit in Rats

TL;DR: A 2026 rat study in Neuropsychopharmacology found that chemogenetically inhibiting a prelimbic cortex to nucleus accumbens core pathway blocked cue-triggered cocaine seeking after cocaine alone, but did not block relapse-like behavior after sequential cocaine and alcohol use. Key Findings The model tested sequential polysubstance use: rats self-administered cocaine, then some received access to 20% …

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