Drugs & Medications

25C-NBF, a Selective 5-HT2A Phenethylamine, Reduced Despair and Restored Sucrose Preference in Male Mice

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25C-NBF, a Selective 5-HT2A Phenethylamine, Reduced Despair and Restored Sucrose Preference in Male Mice

TL;DR: A 2026 mouse and rat study in Molecular Psychiatry reported that 25C-NBF, a selective serotonin 2A receptor agonist from the 2C-X phenethylamine series, produced rapid antidepressant-like effects, increased dendritic spines and Bdnf expression in the prefrontal cortex, and showed no rewarding or reinforcing properties at the tested doses. Key Findings Despair behavior fell after …

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Early Antidepressant Treatment Linked to Higher Negative Affect and Impulsivity in Bipolar Euthymia

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Early Antidepressant Treatment Linked to Higher Negative Affect and Impulsivity in Bipolar Euthymia

TL;DR: A 2026 cross-sectional study in PLOS One found that euthymic bipolar disorder patients with early systematic antidepressant treatment had higher negative affect and higher attentional, non-planning, and total impulsivity scores than matched patients without that early antidepressant history. Key Findings 124 bipolar patients studied: Researchers compared 62 patients with early systematic antidepressant treatment and …

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Dexamethasone Disrupted Mouse Sleep Through Orexin Activation

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Dexamethasone Disrupted Mouse Sleep Through Orexin Activation

TL;DR: A 2026 mouse study in Psychopharmacology found that repeated dexamethasone, a synthetic glucocorticoid steroid, disrupted light-phase sleep and increased orexin-neuron activity, a wake-promoting hypothalamic signal, during sleep-to-wake transitions. Key Findings 5-day steroid model: Male C57BL/6J mice received dexamethasone at 30 mg/kg for 5 days before 24-hour sleep recording. Light-phase sleep was disrupted: Dexamethasone increased …

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CBT-I Plus Medication Improved Chronic Insomnia More Than Medication Alone

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CBT-I Plus Medication Improved Chronic Insomnia More Than Medication Alone

TL;DR: A 2026 systematic review in Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found that cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), a structured behavioral sleep treatment, plus sleep medication improved chronic insomnia more than medication alone, but adding medication to CBT-I did not improve the critical insomnia outcomes. Key Findings 15 analyzable articles: Researchers screened 1,179 articles, …

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BIOMEDE Trial Found No Survival Gain From Targeted Drugs in DIPG

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BIOMEDE Trial Found No Survival Gain From Targeted Drugs in DIPG

TL;DR: A 2026 randomized phase 2 trial in Nature Medicine found that three targeted drugs added to radiotherapy did not improve overall survival for children with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), a lethal brainstem tumor, although everolimus caused fewer treatment-stopping side effects. Key Findings 233 randomized patients: BIOMEDE assigned 36 children to erlotinib, 102 to …

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Oral Arginine Reduced Amyloid-Beta Pathology in Two Mouse Models of Alzheimer’s Disease

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Oral Arginine Reduced Amyloid-Beta Pathology in Two Mouse Models of Alzheimer's Disease

TL;DR: A 2025 study in Neurochemistry International from Kindai University showed that oral arginine, a naturally occurring amino acid, blocked the formation of toxic amyloid-beta aggregates in lab tests and reduced amyloid pathology in two well-established mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease — with the authors flagging that the research-grade doses and methods are not equivalent …

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Acute and Post-Acute Settings Initiated Most Cognition-Altering Prescriptions in Older Adults With Dementia

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Acute and Post-Acute Settings Initiated Most Cognition-Altering Prescriptions in Older Adults With Dementia

TL;DR: A 2026 study in JAMA Network Open analyzed Medicare claims for adults 66+ from 2008 to 2021 and found that cognition-altering medications — antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, hypnotics, anticholinergics — were disproportionately initiated in emergency rooms, hospitals, and skilled nursing facilities rather than doctors’ offices, especially in dementia patients (43% of antipsychotic starts vs 22% of …

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Cochrane Review of 17 Trials Found Anti-Amyloid Antibodies Made No Clinically Meaningful Difference in Early Alzheimer’s

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Cochrane Review of 17 Trials Found Anti-Amyloid Antibodies Made No Clinically Meaningful Difference in Early Alzheimer's

TL;DR: A 2026 systematic review in The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews pooled 17 trials of anti-amyloid monoclonal antibodies (N=20,342 people with mild cognitive impairment or mild Alzheimer’s dementia) and concluded that any effect on memory decline or dementia severity was either nonexistent or well below the threshold considered clinically meaningful for patients. Key Findings …

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Intestinal Epithelial Serotonin Reduced Anxiety and Depression-Like Behavior via Vagus in Mice; In Utero SSRI Linked to Infant Constipation

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Intestinal Epithelial Serotonin Reduced Anxiety and Depression-Like Behavior via Vagus in Mice; In Utero SSRI Linked to Infant Constipation

TL;DR: A 2024 Gastroenterology study found that intestinal epithelial serotonin reduced anxiety- and depression-like behavior in mice through vagal signaling, while prenatal SSRI exposure in a human cohort predicted infant functional constipation independent of maternal depression. Key Findings Gut-only serotonin reuptake transporter ablation reduced anxiety and depression-like behavior: Targeting SERT only in the intestinal epithelium …

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Hypothalamic LPO-BDNF Neurons Deepened Anesthesia and DMH Glutamate Neurons Accelerated Emergence in Mice

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Hypothalamic LPO-BDNF Neurons Deepened Anesthesia and DMH Glutamate Neurons Accelerated Emergence in Mice

TL;DR: A 2026 mouse study in iScience found that anesthetic emergence slowed sharply below 31.9°C because two hypothalamic thermoregulatory pathways pushed anesthesia in opposite directions: preoptic BDNF neurons deepened anesthesia, while a dorsomedial-hypothalamus-to-raphe-pallidus glutamate pathway accelerated emergence. Key Findings Emergence delay grows logarithmically below 31.9°C core temperature: In mice, anesthetic emergence time increases logarithmically as …

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