Medical

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

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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

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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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Psychosis in Lupus Linked to Immune Disease Activity in Review

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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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Opioid Use Disorder Drove 30-Year Rise in US Substance Use Burden

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Opioid Use Disorder Drove 30-Year Rise in US Substance Use Burden

TL;DR: A 2026 study in Population Health Metrics used Global Burden of Disease 2019 estimates and found that U.S. substance-use-disorder health loss rose sharply from 1990 to 2019, with opioid use disorders driving the largest increase. Key Findings 19.5 million cases: Estimated U.S. substance use disorder prevalence increased from 12.6 million in 1990 to 19.5 …

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UK Perinatal Lithium Prescribing Was Rare and Often Interrupted

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UK Perinatal Lithium Prescribing Was Rare and Often Interrupted

TL;DR: A 2026 cohort study in The British Journal of Psychiatry found that lithium prescribing around pregnancy was rare in UK primary care records, and most pre-pregnancy lithium users did not stay on treatment through all three trimesters. Key Findings 752,112 pregnancies analyzed: Researchers used UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink GOLD records from 1995 to …

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Rotenone Parkinson’s Fly Model Showed Sex-Specific Gene Responses

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Rotenone Parkinson's Fly Model Showed Sex-Specific Gene Responses

TL;DR: A 2026 fly study in IBRO Neuroscience Reports found that long-term rotenone exposure produced stronger survival, climbing, oxidative-stress, and late immune-gene disruption in male Drosophila than in female flies. Key Findings 90 flies per sex were tracked: Survival assays used three sets of 30 male or female flies after rotenone feeding. Two disease windows …

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