Mental Health Daily

NREM2 Dreaming Preserved Subjective Sleep Depth in 1,024 Awakenings

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for NREM2 dreaming and subjective sleep depth.

A 2026 PLOS Biology study using 256-electrode EEG and 1,024 NREM2 awakenings found that immersive dreaming predicted deeper subjective sleep, beta = 0.277, while reflective thought predicted shallower subjective sleep, beta = −0.195.1 Deep-feeling sleep can include immersive conscious experience. Research Highlights Immersion predicted depth: Perceptual immersion in NREM2 dreams was positively associated with subjective …

Parkinson’s Visual Hallucination Mouse Model Hit AUC 0.96

by GLOOM

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A 2026 Parkinson’s disease mouse study reported that benzhexol hydrochloride induced a measurable hallucination-like behavior state in 6-OHDA parkinsonian mice, and an integrated behavior classifier separated that state from non-PDVH mice with AUC = 0.96 and Youden index = 0.875.1 The careful interpretation is behavioral modeling, not proof that mice had human visual hallucinations. Research …

tDCS for Empathy: rTPJ Increased Other-Pain Signals, DLPFC Did Not

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for tDCS empathy and rTPJ versus DLPFC social cognition.

A 2026 Psychological Medicine study involving 196 healthy adults found that transcranial direct current stimulation over the right temporoparietal junction increased cognitive empathy signals across pain and video tasks, while left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex stimulation produced narrower and less consistent effects.1 The useful finding is anatomical calibration: rTPJ looked more like an other-state representation target, …

Lithium vs. Valproate in Residual Schizophrenia: Case Safety Signal

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for lithium and valproate augmentation safety in schizophrenia.

A 2026 case report described valproate 800 mg/day improving agitation in residual-phase treatment-resistant schizophrenia but being followed by hypoglycemia and pancytopenia; after discontinuation, lithium 600 mg/day at 0.8 mEq/L was associated with BPRS improvement from 80 to 64.1 The calibrated read is mixed: valproate looked behaviorally useful in 1 patient, but the safety signal was …

Saudi Medical Students Had 30% Health Anxiety in 650-Person Study

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for medical-student health anxiety in Saudi Arabia.

A 2026 multi-university survey involving 650 Saudi medical students found that 30% met a threshold for clinically significant health anxiety, with higher adjusted odds among female students, rural students, private-university students, and students with psychiatric history.1 The result is not a diagnosis of “hypochondria”; it is a screening signal that illness-focused fear may be a …

Ayahuasca Reversed Chronic Stress Markers in Zebrafish Model

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for ayahuasca chronic-stress zebrafish cortisol and BDNF study.

A zebrafish experiment found that one 1-hour ayahuasca exposure reversed several effects of 14 days of unpredictable chronic stress: impaired sociability, anxiety-like behavior, stress-related hyperlocomotion, elevated cortisol, and reduced whole-brain BDNF.1 The result is mechanistic animal evidence, not a clinical trial of ayahuasca for human depression or anxiety. Research Highlights 14 days of chronic stress …

VR-CBT for Paranoia May Fit High-Avolition Schizophrenia Patients

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for VR-CBT paranoia treatment modifiers in schizophrenia.

A 254-person FaceYourFears moderator analysis found that people with schizophrenia-spectrum paranoia and higher avolition or moderate-to-high delusion severity may improve more with virtual-reality CBT than with standard CBT for psychosis.1 The result is useful as a treatment-matching hypothesis, not as a rule that assigns patients to a headset. Research Highlights 254 participants were analyzed: 128 …