Psychology

High Cannabis Craving Profile Predicted More Positive Urine Tests

by
High Cannabis Craving Profile Predicted More Positive Urine Tests

TL;DR: A 2026 secondary analysis in Drug and Alcohol Dependence found 4 cannabis craving trajectories during treatment, with the high-craving group showing more positive urine cannabinoid tests and higher baseline anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive cannabis-use symptoms. Key Findings Trial reanalysis: Researchers reanalyzed a 12-week multisite cannabis use disorder trial of 302 adults assigned to N-acetylcysteine …

Read more

30 mg 2C-B Matched MDMA Drug Intensity but Lasted Less Than Psilocybin

by
30 mg 2C-B Matched MDMA Drug Intensity but Lasted Less Than Psilocybin

TL;DR: A 2026 study in Neuropsychopharmacology found that 30 mg 2C-B produced acute subjective effects in healthy adults that were similar in overall intensity to 125 mg MDMA, shorter and less distressing than 25 mg psilocybin, and less cardiovascularly stimulating than MDMA. Key Findings Crossover comparison: The double-blind study tested 10, 20, and 30 mg …

Read more

Connectivity-Guided iTBS Improved Inpatient Treatment-Resistant Depression Scores

by
Connectivity-Guided iTBS Improved Inpatient Treatment-Resistant Depression Scores

TL;DR: A 2026 randomized trial posted to medRxiv found that connectivity-guided accelerated intermittent theta-burst stimulation added to inpatient care improved treatment-resistant depression scores more than sham stimulation over 2 weeks. Key Findings 57 randomized patients: Hospitalized adults with unipolar treatment-resistant depression were assigned to active or sham stimulation. 30 iTBS sessions: Active treatment delivered 3 …

Read more

Focused Ultrasound Improved Anxiety-Relevant Autonomic Habituation

by
Focused Ultrasound Improved Anxiety-Relevant Autonomic Habituation

TL;DR: A 2026 human study in Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science found that low-intensity focused ultrasound aimed at salience-network hubs improved early skin-conductance habituation to repeated startle sounds, while eye-blink and EEG habituation did not change. Key Findings Forty healthy adults completed a crossover experiment: Participants attended separate low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) sessions targeting the …

Read more

PLTi Brainstem Neurons Controlled Spatial Attention in Mice

by
PLTi Brainstem Neurons Controlled Spatial Attention in Mice

TL;DR: A 2026 study in Nature Communications found that PLTi, an evolutionarily old group of inhibitory brainstem neurons, was required for mice to choose a goal-relevant visual target over lower-priority distractors. Key Findings PLTi defined: Parabigemino-lateral tegmental inhibitory complex neurons were mostly parvalbumin-positive GABAergic cells in the mouse brainstem. 95.01% overlap: Nearly all GABA-positive cells …

Read more

Human Hippocampus Encoded Language During Propofol Anesthesia

by
Human Hippocampus Encoded Language During Propofol Anesthesia

TL;DR: A 2026 study in Nature recorded human hippocampal neurons during propofol anesthesia and found preserved oddball-tone discrimination, short-term plasticity, and language-related semantic coding during surgical loss of consciousness. Key Findings 7 surgical patients: Researchers recorded hippocampal activity with Neuropixels probes during general anesthesia in patients undergoing epilepsy surgery. 172 tone-responsive units: The tone task …

Read more

GPT-4 Turbo Debate Impersonation Increased Authenticity Ratings

by
GPT-4 Turbo Debate Impersonation Increased Authenticity Ratings

TL;DR: A 2026 study in PLOS One found that UK survey participants rated LLM-generated impersonated debate responses as more authentic, coherent, and relevant than real televised-debate answers, even though many generated answers differed from what the real speakers said. Key Findings 948 UK participants: The survey used a representative cross-section of British society to rate …

Read more

Neuroinflammation Review Linked CRP and IL-6 to Depression Subtype

by
Neuroinflammation Review Linked CRP and IL-6 to Depression Subtype

TL;DR: A 2026 review in Translational Psychiatry argues for a biologically meaningful inflammatory depression subgroup, with CRP, IL-6, TNF-alpha, glial activation, kynurenine metabolism, and synaptic plasticity linking immune signaling to symptoms and treatment response. Key Findings One-third treatment gap: The review notes that current pharmacological treatments fail to produce adequate responses in approximately one-third of …

Read more

EMBER-MDD Will Test Multi-Omic Biomarkers for Esketamine Response

by
EMBER-MDD Will Test Multi-Omic Biomarkers for Esketamine Response

TL;DR: A 2026 methodology paper in European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience describes EMBER-MDD, a research-only multi-omic study designed to find treatment-resistance and esketamine-response biomarkers in about 420 adults with major depressive disorder. Key Findings About 420 adults: EMBER-MDD will analyze biomaterials from approximately 420 adults with major depressive disorder. 210 versus 210 design: …

Read more

Antagonistic Relationships Shaped Human Brain Social Maps in fMRI Study

by
Antagonistic Relationships Shaped Human Brain Social Maps in fMRI Study

TL;DR: A 2026 study in Communications Psychology used functional MRI (fMRI) before and after a television drama and found that antagonistic relationships were represented most clearly in the left anterior supramarginal gyrus and right medial prefrontal cortex. Key Findings 21 young adults: The study scanned 21 college students before and after they watched a 6-episode …

Read more

+ Load more