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Social Cognition After Stroke/TBI: Insula-Cingulate Hub

Editorial card showing a stylized brain with the insula, cingulate, middle frontal gyrus, and corpus callosum highlighted, representing the convergent neural substrates of social cognition after acquired brain injury.

A 2026 PRISMA systematic review by Cavallo et al. in Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience aggregates 43 neuroimaging studies of social cognition in adults with stroke or traumatic brain injury and finds the same handful of regions implicated again and again: the insula, cingulate cortex, middle frontal gyrus, and corpus callosum.1 Research Highlights Stroke/TBI social-cognition …

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Right OFC rTMS Improves Memory in Early Schizophrenia

Editorial card showing a coronal brain section highlighting the right orbitofrontal cortex with a TMS coil, illustrating the first RCT of OFC stimulation in first-episode schizophrenia.

Cognitive impairment in first-episode schizophrenia (FES) is the symptom that does the most work blocking employment, relationships, and independent living — and the symptom current antipsychotics barely move. A 2026 RCT by Hu et al. in Psychological Medicine tested whether 20 sessions of low-frequency rTMS targeting the right orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) could improve cognition where …

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Twin Study Finds No Broad Cytokine Link to Depression or Alcohol Use Disorder

Photoreal illustration of cytokine molecules and brain imagery, conveying inflammation-depression hypothesis under scrutiny.

The broad cytokine story failed its most direct community test: in 972 adults, depression, alcohol use, and alcohol use disorder (AUD) were not associated with C-reactive protein (CRP) or a pre-registered pro-inflammatory cytokine index. The only multiple-testing-corrected cytokine hits ran opposite the hypothesis — AUD was linked to lower IL-1β, IL-4, IL-10, and IL-12 — …

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Methamphetamine Treatment Access: 78% Had Never Sought Care

MHD featured image for methamphetamine treatment access, stigma, and barriers to care in Australia.

A 2026 Australian interview study involving 27 adults with methamphetamine use problems found that 21 participants, or 77.8%, had never previously sought treatment for methamphetamine use. Research Highlights Most had never sought treatment: Peart et al. interviewed 27 adults and found that 77.8% had not previously sought methamphetamine treatment before entering the parent trial.1 3 …

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PGx Testing Found Actionable Genotypes in 30% of Veterans

MHD featured image for pharmacogenomic testing in veteran depression and antidepressant polypharmacy.

A 12-week randomized pilot trial in 60 Veterans with depression and psychiatric polypharmacy found that 30% had an actionable antidepressant gene-drug interaction, but immediate access to pharmacogenomic results did not clearly change prescribing or Patient Health Questionnaire-9 depression scores compared with delayed access.1 Research Highlights Actionable PGx results were common: 18 of 60 Veterans, or …

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Resistance Exercise Linked to Lower Depression and Anxiety in Korean Adults

A 2026 nationwide Korean analysis found that resistance exercise was associated with lower depression and anxiety scores after propensity score matching, while aerobic exercise alone was not significantly associated with either outcome. The result favors adding weights, bands, machines, or body-weight strength work to mental-health exercise advice without assuming that lifting caused the lower symptom …

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Suicide in Sculpture: Public Art Makes Risk Socially Visible

MHD featured image for suicide-themed sculpture, public art, psychache, and prevention.

A 2026 qualitative analysis treated suicide-themed sculpture as cultural evidence, showing how public artworks can materialize psychological pain, shame, entrapment, social disconnection, and prevention debates without turning artists or viewers into diagnostic case studies.1 Research Highlights 2026 analysis used cultural methods: the researchers used iconographic, semiotic, and contextual analysis rather than clinical diagnosis or outcome …

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