TL;DR: A 2026 study in Human Brain Mapping found that full-term neonates already showed stronger structural and functional connectivity between cortical gyri than between sulci, with brain structure-function coupling shifting toward decoupling around 41 weeks postmenstrual age. Key Findings Neonatal imaging sample: Researchers analyzed full-term neonates from the developing Human Connectome Project scanned between 38.14 …
TL;DR: A 2026 study in Nature Communications used deep learning, yeast screening, and human brain organoids to identify talarozole and sertaconazole as preclinical candidates that rescued several SURF1-related Leigh syndrome cell and organoid phenotypes. Key Findings 2,250-drug yeast screen: Researchers screened a repurposable-drug library in a yeast model carrying a SURF1-homologue defect and selected top …
TL;DR: A 2026 preprint in medRxiv linked atypical absence seizures in SYNGAP1-related developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (SYNGAP1-DEE) to higher caregiver-reported autistic behavior scores, while caregiver-reported peak seizure frequency did not show the same association. Key Findings 337-person analytic cohort: Researchers analyzed 337 SYNGAP1 registry participants with complete epilepsy and behavior questionnaires. 259 epilepsy-positive participants: Epilepsy …
TL;DR: A 2026 nationwide study in Journal of Korean Medical Science found that among South Korean children and adolescents with intellectual disability, diagnosed ADHD increased from 30.23% in 2012 to 41.77% in 2021, while diagnosed depression increased from 10.46% to 19.37%. Key Findings Population: Researchers analyzed South Korean national health-insurance records for children and adolescents …
TL;DR: A 2026 Nature Communications study found that extra MeCP2, the dosage-sensitive protein linked to Rett syndrome and MECP2 duplication syndrome, disrupted neural progenitor cells far more than mature neurons by activating developmental genes too early. Key Findings Cell timing mattered: MeCP2 overexpression caused broad transcriptional changes in neural progenitor cells, but only modest changes …
TL;DR: A 2026 mouse study in Nature Neuroscience found that glucose signaling through ATP-citrate lyase (ACLY), an enzyme that links sugar metabolism to gene regulation, helped oligodendrocyte progenitor cells multiply before they matured into myelin-forming cells. Key Findings Glucose mapped onto cell state: Developing mouse-brain regions with higher glucose had more proliferating oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, …
TL;DR: A 2026 Nature Communications study followed 100 Swedish participants from age 4 to 24 and found that more than half of detectable blood proteins changed with age, with sex-related protein differences becoming much larger by adolescence and early adulthood. Key Findings Four repeated blood draws: Researchers measured plasma proteins at ages 4, 8, 16, …
TL;DR: A 2026 preprint in medRxiv found that a parent-cocreated sensory-reactivity outcome set captured anxiety, mood, sleep, fatigue, cognition, and peer-relationship changes during bumetanide treatment in children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders, but the unmasked design means the results should not be treated as definitive drug efficacy evidence. Key Findings Treatment cohort: 113 children and …
TL;DR: A 2026 study in Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology linked prenatal PM2.5 and non-freeway NOx exposure with newborn amino-acid metabolism pathways that also tracked autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis before age 5. Key Findings 100 newborn blood spots: Researchers analyzed 50 children later diagnosed with ASD and 50 matched controls from Kaiser …
TL;DR: A 2026 randomized trial in Archives of Disease in Childhood: Fetal and Neonatal Edition found that extended caffeine therapy reduced intermittent hypoxia, brief repeated oxygen-desaturation episodes, in very preterm infants through 41 weeks postmenstrual age. Key Findings 160 infants randomized: The ICAF trial assigned 78 infants to placebo and 82 infants to extended caffeine …
