TL;DR: A 2025 medRxiv fMRI preprint linked higher apathy in both traumatic brain injury (TBI) and control groups to greater effort discounting, while TBI-related apathy was also associated with less exploratory decision-making and weaker neural encoding of differences between expected and received rewards. Key Findings 53-person fMRI sample: Researchers analyzed 34 people with chronic TBI …
TL;DR: A 2026 preprint in medRxiv found that routine non-contrast brain computed tomography (CT) had a low acute-pathology yield in 291 emergency patients with new dizziness, while diabetes, ataxic gait, and headache marked higher odds of abnormal CT findings. Key Findings 291-patient cohort: The retrospective analysis included consecutive adults with new-onset dizziness who underwent non-contrast …
TL;DR: A 2026 medRxiv preprint found that stroke thrombectomy operators often had a preferred device technique, but that preference did not reliably match the technique with the highest first-pass reperfusion rate. Key Findings Stroke thrombectomy cohort: The single-center analysis included 1,405 acute ischemic stroke patients treated with mechanical thrombectomy from 2019 through 2024. 75% had …
TL;DR: A 2026 review and activation-likelihood estimation study in European Journal of Pain found that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), a frontal control region, was repeatedly engaged in acute pain, chronic pain, and placebo analgesia, mainly across Brodmann areas 8, 9, and 46. Key Findings 138 studies included: The review screened 4810 deduplicated records and …
TL;DR: A 2026 study in Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy engineered a modified inhibitory DREADD receptor called GRANPA so the over-the-counter antihistamine diphenhydramine could switch off targeted brain circuits and reduce seizure activity in mouse models. Key Findings Two added receptor mutations: The lead GRANPA receptor combined hM4Di with S85V and Y416F mutations to improve …
TL;DR: A 2026 preprint in medRxiv found that stroke survivors doing motor imagery showed changing brain-heart coupling across rehabilitation sessions, especially between cardiac sympathetic activity and electroencephalography (EEG) beta-band network clustering. Key Findings 15 stroke survivors: Researchers analyzed two cohorts with upper- or lower-limb motor impairment after stroke. 2 motor-imagery protocols: Dataset 1 used gait …
TL;DR: A 2026 preprint posted on medRxiv reported that resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) neural slowing after stroke tracked secondary thalamic degeneration measured on structural MRI, even though the sampled patients did not have direct thalamic lesions. Key Findings 25 stroke patients: Researchers studied adults at least 3 months after unilateral supratentorial stroke and compared their resting-state …
TL;DR: A 2026 randomized trial in Physiotherapy Research International found that adding active 5 Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex to dual-task stroke rehabilitation produced larger gains in Timed Up-and-Go performance, balance confidence, and cognitive screening than sham stimulation plus the same training. Key Findings Small randomized trial: The study …
TL;DR: A 2026 prospective mild-stroke cohort study in Circulation linked basilar artery dolichoectasia and wider cranial arteries to lacunar stroke and cerebral small-vessel disease, while large-artery stenosis did not show the same association. Key Findings 229 mild-stroke patients: The Mild Stroke Study 3 cohort included lacunar and mild nonlacunar ischemic stroke patients followed with MRI …
TL;DR: A 2026 study in Nature Machine Intelligence reported that a textile soft hand exoskeleton with thumb control and surface electromyography (sEMG) intent detection restored practical grasping in one person with severe ALS-related hand paralysis and helped the most severely impaired stroke participants more than moderately impaired users. Key Findings 97% intent sensitivity: A non-invasive …
