TL;DR: A 2026 study in Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science linked serious physical injury to recurrent major depression and found that injury-related DNA methylation patterns differed by depression status, with oxytocin, GABA, and synaptic-plasticity pathways standing out. Key Findings Large cohort anchor: researchers analyzed 4,308 Generation Scotland participants with or without a reported fracture from …
TL;DR: A 2026 study in Brain, Behavior, & Immunity – Health reported that Theiler’s murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV), a mouse neurotropic virus, infected substantia nigra dopamine neurons and produced Parkinson’s-like motor deficits in mice. Key Findings 13 TMEV mice vs 14 controls: The main behavioral experiment compared unilateral TMEV injection into the substantia nigra with …
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 review in CNS Drugs argues that seletracetam, an unapproved SV2A-targeting antiseizure drug, may deserve renewed development as a low-volume intranasal non-benzodiazepine rescue treatment for acute repetitive seizures. Key Findings SV2A racetam: Seletracetam is a second-generation racetam related to levetiracetam and brivaracetam. Phase IIa history: Oral seletracetam reached early clinical trials but was …
TL;DR: A 2026 medRxiv preprint introduced a 68-component NeuroMark template for single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), a brain blood-flow imaging method, and found schizophrenia-related differences in cerebellar, subcortical, higher-cognition, visual, and triple-network perfusion patterns. Key Findings Template build: Researchers used blind independent component analysis on two large SPECT datasets of 5,001 and 5,000 scans …
TL;DR: A 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis in International Journal of Molecular Sciences found no significant global gut-microbiome alpha-diversity difference in schizophrenia, but reported recurring community-composition and taxonomic shifts. Key Findings 48 studies: The review included 48 human observational studies published between 2017 and 2025. 14 meta-analyzed studies: Only 14 studies provided enough data for …
TL;DR: A 2026 preprint on medRxiv used multisite MRI data from 3,958 people with schizophrenia and 5,489 controls to map cortical network disruptions and identify two robust brain-structure subtypes. Key Findings 9,447 MRI participants: The analysis included 3,958 individuals with schizophrenia and 5,489 neurotypical controls from 40 centers. Gradient alterations: Schizophrenia was linked with widespread …
TL;DR: A 2026 preprint on medRxiv found that older adults with mild-cognitive-impairment-level scores showed different resting facial action patterns than healthy controls, especially upper lip raiser, lip tightener, and lip suck measures. Key Findings MCI-level comparison: The study included 45 older adults and compared 31 participants in the MCI-level group with 14 healthy controls. MoCA-defined …
TL;DR: A 2025 study in PNAS found that expert pianists changed perceived piano timbre by altering specific key-movement features, and listeners could hear intended differences in weight, clarity, and brightness without seeing the performer. Key Findings 20 expert pianists: The performance experiment recruited competition-winning pianists with an average of 25.5 years of professional piano training. …
TL;DR: A 2026 narrative review in Neurological Research and Practice argued that Parkinson’s prevention is most actionable through physical activity, Mediterranean-style diet patterns, toxin reduction, earlier prodromal detection, and better rehabilitation after diagnosis. Key Findings Fastest-growing neurological disorder: The review described Parkinson’s disease as the fastest-growing neurological disorder worldwide. 6.2 to 11.8 million cases: A …
