TL;DR: A 2026 mouse study in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research found that chronic intermittent ethanol plus repeated forced-swim stress left mice drinking more alcohol months later and impaired reversal learning in midlife, alongside locus coeruleus signs of oxidative stress and weaker adrenergic autoregulation. Key Findings Persistent effects reached midlife: The experiment followed 55 C57BL/6J …
TL;DR: A 2026 study in Implementation Science Communications found that high-performing HEALing Communities Study coalitions used representative membership, shared goals, data support, and communications campaigns to strengthen opioid-use-disorder service implementation. Key Findings 8 communities studied: Researchers selected the top-performing urban and rural waitlist-control communities from each of four HEALing Communities Study sites. 41 interviews analyzed: …
TL;DR: A 2026 Journal of Global Health analysis of Global Burden of Disease 2021 data estimated that 162.86 million people had substance use disorders in 2021, with age-standardized rates down since 1990 but major inequality across sex, age, region, and development level. Key Findings 162.86 million cases: Global Burden of Disease 2021 estimates put worldwide …
TL;DR: A 2026 study in Behavior Genetics found that combining major depressive disorder and alcohol use disorder polygenic scores improved prediction of their comorbidity in 7,965 Add Health participants, but added little for either condition alone. Key Findings Add Health dataset anchored the analysis: The study used 7,965 European, African, and Admixed American ancestry participants …
TL;DR: A 2026 systematic review in Preventive Medicine Reports found limited but suggestive randomized-trial evidence that smoking-cessation medications can help Indigenous adults quit, especially when paired with supportive or culturally tailored care. Key Findings 5 RCTs: The review found only 5 randomized controlled trials, totaling 1,633 participants, in American Indian, Alaska Native, and Maori adult …
TL;DR: A 2026 study in Drug and Alcohol Review found that laypeople reported more and better-developed cues for alcohol intoxication than cannabis intoxication, even though most coded cues for both substances were accurate. Key Findings Intoxication-cue sample: The survey sample was 77.7% female, with an average age of 20.5 years, and came from undergraduate psychology …
TL;DR: A 2026 study in Psychopharmacology found that low oral THC doses did not meaningfully reduce most subjective or physiological responses when healthy adults retrieved memories of a prior social stress task. Key Findings Low-dose THC groups: Participants aged 18-35 were assigned to placebo, 5 mg THC, or 10 mg THC groups, with 12 people …
TL;DR: A 2026 exploratory study in Translational Psychiatry found blood DNA methylation changes after 25 mg psilocybin in detoxified alcohol use disorder patients, including findings near TLE4 and RASGRP4, but the small trial did not establish a definitive AUD biomarker. Key Findings 37 AUD patients: The methylation analysis used a randomized, double-blind psilocybin trial completed …
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 …
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 …
