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 randomized follow-up study in Maternal & Child Nutrition found no overall hair-cortisol difference at ages 9-11 after early-life small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplementation, but children whose mothers had 0-5 years of schooling had lower cortisol if they received SQ-LNS. Key Findings No overall cortisol shift: Usable hair cortisol data from 680 children showed …
TL;DR: A 2026 study in Psychological Medicine found that sleep quality partly explained how early adolescent depression, anxiety, and psychotic-like experience distress were linked to later school grades and social problems in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. Key Findings Scale: Researchers analyzed 6,754 adolescents with grade data and 7,550 adolescents with social-problems data across …
TL;DR: A 2026 observational study in International Journal of Legal Medicine found that cocaine dominated analytically confirmed recreational drug toxicity cases in one Bologna emergency department, while ketamine was common and all new-psychoactive-substance-positive patients had psychomotor agitation. Key Findings 110 ED patients: The observational study enrolled 110 patients with suspected acute recreational drug toxicity between …
TL;DR: A 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis in Journal of Medical Internet Research found that immersive virtual reality reduced anxiety and pain in randomized trials of gastrointestinal cancer care, but wide prediction intervals and low evidence certainty mean the effect may vary across clinical settings. Key Findings 14 RCTs: The review included 14 randomized controlled …
TL;DR: A 2026 preprint on medRxiv found that in-person cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia and several shorter behavioral versions were linked with higher post-treatment insomnia remission than sleep hygiene or other control conditions, but the evidence was strongest for full CBT-I. Key Findings 77 randomized trials: The network meta-analysis included 77 RCTs with 5,731 adults …
TL;DR: A 2026 preprint in medRxiv linked a higher 24-hour urinary sodium-to-potassium ratio with deep white matter lesions on brain MRI in older Japanese adults, with the association appearing to depend more on lower potassium excretion than on sodium alone. Key Findings Urine balance was matched to MRI lesions: The analysis included 296 adults from …
TL;DR: A 2026 study in Communications Medicine reported that artificial intelligence (AI) and multi-contrast MRI post-processing could reveal cortical lesions in multiple sclerosis trial scans that standard MRI review usually misses. Key Findings 80-person methods subset: Researchers analyzed 80 people with primary progressive multiple sclerosis from the phase 3 ORATORIO trial, then trained additional models …
TL;DR: A 2026 Nature Communications study found that chronic tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), an inflammatory cytokine, pushed human hippocampal progenitor cells toward type I interferon activity, lower neuroblast formation, and CXCR3-dependent T-cell recruitment. Key Findings 0.1-1 ng/ml TNF-alpha: The key experiments used chronic low-dose TNF-alpha exposures that the researchers considered biologically relevant for inflammatory …
TL;DR: A 2026 study in the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging reported that adolescent bipolar II depression showed lower thalamic structural-functional connectivity coupling and glucose metabolism than adolescent major depressive disorder in a small exploratory positron emission tomography/MRI (PET/MRI) sample. Key Findings 28 adolescents scanned: The study compared 14 adolescents with bipolar …
