TL;DR: A 2026 secondary analysis in PLOS One found that low-intensity focused ultrasound and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) had similar short-term post-stroke motor endpoint scores, while change-from-baseline Fugl-Meyer gains were larger with focused ultrasound. Key Findings 50-person comparison: The analysis compared 25 subacute stroke patients assigned to LIFU with 25 assigned to rTMS. 10 …
TL;DR: A 2026 study in the International Journal of General Medicine found that rapid ASPECTS scoring on non-contrast CT and CT perfusion core-infarct volume predicted 90-day outcomes similarly in 82 acute ischemic stroke patients treated with endovascular therapy. Key Findings 82 stroke patients: The retrospective single-center study included acute ischemic stroke patients treated with endovascular …
TL;DR: A 2026 preprint in medRxiv from a Dutch comprehensive stroke center found that ischemic stroke patients with a migration background were more likely to arrive outside the treatment time window and less likely to receive endovascular thrombectomy than patients without a migration background. Key Findings 232 first-ever ischemic stroke patients were included: 62 patients, …
TL;DR: A 2026 preprint in medRxiv reported that one session of left central thalamus focused ultrasound increased behavioral responsiveness scores in 16 adults with chronic disorders of consciousness, with no severe adverse events reported. Key Findings 16 chronic DOC patients: Adults had chronic disorders of consciousness after severe brain injury, with an average time since …
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 …
TL;DR: A 2026 Research Square preprint used silent verb-generation functional MRI (fMRI), brain imaging during covert word production, and found early cerebellar-cerebral language-network changes after radiotherapy in 31 children and adolescents treated for medulloblastoma. Key Findings 31 pediatric patients: Children and adolescents with medulloblastoma completed silent verb-generation fMRI before radiotherapy and again within 6 weeks …
TL;DR: A 2026 medRxiv preprint reported that bedside 64 mT portable MRI scans from ECMO patients could support brain-volume analysis, with segmented volumes broadly comparable to conventional MRI and low-field MRI scans without ECMO equipment. Key Findings 30 ECMO scans: The volumetric pipeline analyzed T2-weighted portable MRI scans from 30 patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. …
TL;DR: A 2026 review in Nature Reviews Neurology argued that neural extracellular matrix (ECM), the protein-and-glycan scaffold around central nervous system cells, is an active regulator of brain plasticity and neurological disease. Key Findings Multiple ECM forms: The review describes perineuronal nets, perisynaptic ECM, periaxonal coats, and diffuse interstitial ECM. Brain function link: Neural ECM …
TL;DR: A 2026 rat and cell study in Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine reported that an engineered VIN nanosystem shifted microglia toward an anti-inflammatory state and reduced ischemic-stroke infarct measures in MCAO rats. Key Findings CXCR4 increased 1.75-fold: Fe3O4 nanoparticle induction raised CXCR4 expression in bone-marrow mesenchymal stem cell membranes. A151 loading reached …
TL;DR: A 2026 mouse study in Blood found that Thrombosomes, a freeze-dried platelet-derived blood product, reduced bleeding, vessel leak, inflammation, and blood-brain-barrier disruption after traumatic brain injury. Key Findings Thrombosomes were tested after traumatic brain injury: the product is made from preserved platelet material and was originally designed for hemorrhage control. Treatment was given after …
