Psychology

Quetiapine Linked to Better Working Memory in Schizophrenia

July 11, 2026 by BrainASAP

TL;DR: A 2026 study in European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience linked sustained quetiapine treatment with better high-working-memory cognitive performance in schizophrenia spectrum disorder, but the genetic tests did not support the proposed remyelination-moderation mechanism. Key Findings 166 matched pairs: The extended PsyCourse analysis included 166 quetiapine-treated schizophrenia-spectrum patients and 166 age- and sex-matched …

Lecanemab Linked to Lower Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Alzheimer’s

July 11, 2026 by BrainASAP

TL;DR: A 2026 real-world cohort study in The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease found that lecanemab-treated Alzheimer’s patients had lower Neuropsychiatric Inventory scores over follow-up, and 6-month symptom reductions were associated with regional amyloid-beta positron emission tomography (PET) clearance. Key Findings 144 treated patients: The cohort included people with Alzheimer’s-related mild cognitive impairment or …

Cariprazine Linked to Obsessive-Compulsive Symptom Flare in Bipolar II Case Report

July 11, 2026 by BrainASAP

TL;DR: A 2026 case study in Biomedical Reports described a 28-year-old woman with bipolar II disorder whose stable subclinical counting compulsion worsened and expanded into new obsessive-compulsive symptoms within 3 days of starting cariprazine, then returned near baseline within 7 days after the drug was stopped. Key Findings Single case report: The source described one …

Ketamine EEG Alpha Redundancy Tracked Depression Response in Late-Life TRD

July 10, 2026 by BrainASAP

TL;DR: A 2026 study in Translational Psychiatry found that ketamine changed EEG-derived high-order brain interactions in late-life treatment-resistant depression, and a 24-hour increase in alpha-band redundancy tracked greater depression improvement by Day 7. Key Findings 30 analyzed participants: The secondary analysis compared 18 ketamine-treated and 12 midazolam-treated late-life veterans with treatment-resistant depression at baseline. Single …

Right Insula-Putamen Brain Network Linked to Somatic Symptoms

July 10, 2026 by BrainASAP

TL;DR: A 2026 study published in BMC Medicine used lesion network mapping to identify a somatic-symptom brain network centered on the right insula and putamen, then linked atrophy inside that network to somatic symptom severity across 399 psychiatric patients. Key Findings 21 lesions mapped: Lesions linked to somatic symptoms appeared in different brain locations but …

ADHD Symptoms Linked to Cannabis Use Through CNR1-Rich Inhibitory-Control Regions

July 10, 2026 by BrainASAP

TL;DR: A 2026 medRxiv preprint linked greater attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptom scores in college students to reduced stop-signal functional MRI (fMRI) activation in cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1R)-rich brain regions, and that reduced activation predicted heavier cannabis-use trajectories over 4 years. Key Findings ADHD-cannabis trajectory: Researchers analyzed cannabis-use trajectories in 466 first-year college students aged 18-19, …

Review Identified Different Depression Treatment Targets in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s

July 10, 2026 by BrainASAP

TL;DR: A 2026 narrative review in Molecular Psychiatry argues that depression in Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease follows disease-specific brain mechanisms, while standard antidepressant evidence remains weak in these neurodegenerative populations. Key Findings 42% in Alzheimer’s disease: The review cites depressive syndromes affecting about 42% of patients with Alzheimer’s disease and 35% of patients with …

AI Chatbots Did Not Significantly Reduce Depression Symptoms in Meta-Analysis

July 10, 2026 by BrainASAP

TL;DR: A 2026 meta-analysis in Journal of Medical Internet Research did not find a statistically significant reduction in Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) depression scores with AI-driven chatbots, but emotionally responsive, structured, and frequent interactions were more consistently associated with user adherence. Key Findings 11 randomized trials: The review included 11 RCTs with 2220 participants for …

Depression Transition Risk Increased After Bipolar Manic or Mixed Episodes

July 10, 2026 by BrainASAP

TL;DR: A 2026 medRxiv retrospective cohort study found that depression often followed bipolar manic or mixed episodes quickly, with 25% of manic episodes and 22% of mixed episodes transitioning to depression within 1 month. Key Findings First-month risk window: Researchers analyzed 10,437 people, 42,314 mood episodes, and 90,727 person-years in a U.S. electronic health record …

Medicaid and Benzodiazepines Predicted Persistent Opioid Use After Surgery

July 9, 2026 by BrainASAP

TL;DR: A 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis in Pain Medicine found that Medicaid enrollment and preoperative benzodiazepine use had the largest pooled associations with new persistent opioid use after surgery among opioid-naive US adults. Key Findings 27 cohort studies: The review included US adult surgical studies that separated opioid-naive patients from those using opioids before …

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