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Lecanemab Clears Amyloid via Microglia and Fc Receptors

Photoreal illustration of microglia clustering around an amyloid plaque, conveying immune-mediated clearance mechanism.

A 2026 Nature Neuroscience study found that lecanemab cleared amyloid in a humanized-microglia Alzheimer’s disease model only when microglia and the antibody’s intact Fc fragment were both present: X-34 plaque area differed across IgG1, lecanemab, and Fc-silenced LALA-PG groups (P = 0.0003), 82E1 plaque area differed across groups (P < 0.0001), and microglia-deficient mice showed …

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Total-Body Tau PET Links Brain-Organ Coupling to Alzheimer’s Cognition

Photoreal illustration of brain with cardiac and respiratory rhythm overlays, conveying brain-body coupling and AD pathology.

A 2026 total-body tau-PET study of 28 people with Alzheimer’s disease and 23 biomarker-negative controls found stronger brain-organ network connectivity in Alzheimer’s disease than in biomarker-negative controls: 35 altered connections, including 21 brain-body edges, plus AD-only links between brain-organ coupling, cortical tau burden, MRI-derived glymphatic markers, and cognition.1 The result is best read as a …

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Post-Stroke Depression Tracks Serotonin-Acetylcholine Damage

Photoreal illustration of stroke lesion with overlapping neurotransmitter network damage, conveying mechanism of post-stroke depression.

A 2026 two-cohort connectome study found that post-stroke depressive symptoms tracked damage to networks weighted by the serotonin transporter and vesicular acetylcholine transporter: 5-HTT damage predicted depression in Leipzig (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.15–5.02) and Oxford (OR 2.05, 95% CI 1.03–4.09), while VAChT damage also replicated across both cohorts.1 The dopamine part of the original …

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Autism Gene-Expression Study Finds 3 Molecular Subtypes in 1,711 Samples

Photoreal illustration of brain with three highlighted gene-expression patterns showing distinct autism molecular subtypes.

A 2026 RNA-seq analysis of 1,711 autistic probands found 3 gene-expression clusters: 425 people with more severe restricted and repetitive behaviors than the other clusters, 282 with milder symptoms and better adaptive function than the other clusters, and 1,004 with stronger social-communication impairment than the other clusters.1 The supported claim is molecular stratification, not a …

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Emotional Memory fMRI Separates Arousal From Valence

Photoreal illustration of brain with amygdala and prefrontal cortex highlighted, conveying dual-pathway emotional memory mechanism.

A 2026 fMRI study of 1,006 healthy young adults found that emotional pictures were remembered better than neutral pictures, but the brain signal split after arousal was modeled: amygdala and insula effects dropped out, while negative and positive valence kept separate cortical encoding patterns.1 Research Highlights Emotional pictures had the recall advantage: in the full …

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Sleep Memory Cues Do Not Boost Parkinson’s Motor Learning

Photoreal illustration of an older adult sleeping with overlay of memory and brain oscillation imagery, conveying sleep-based learning intervention.

Auditory targeted memory reactivation during a 2-hour nap did not improve motor retention in 20 Parkinson’s disease patients or 20 healthy older adults, even though the same cues changed sleep physiology by reducing spindle density and increasing slow-wave density.1 Research Highlights First Parkinson’s TMR test: Micca et al. studied 20 Parkinson’s disease patients and 20 …

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Esketamine Can Trigger Trauma Re-Experiencing in PTSD

Photoreal illustration of a patient receiving nasal spray with overlay of trauma memory imagery, conveying esketamine + PTSD interaction.

A 2026 retrospective case series of 22 adults with treatment-resistant depression and comorbid PTSD found that trauma re-experiencing during intranasal esketamine disappeared over later sessions in 72.7% of patients, while 27.3% stopped esketamine because the flashbacks persisted.1 Research Highlights Flashbacks usually faded, but not always: In 16 of 22 patients (72.7%), esketamine-related trauma re-experiencing disappeared …

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