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Rare OCD Variants in NPY5R, DLGAP1, and MAPK8IP3 Segregate in Families

Editorial card for rare OCD variants in NPY5R, DLGAP1, and MAPK8IP3 across multiplex families.

A 2026 whole-genome sequencing preprint found rare variant signals in 2 multiplex obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) families: an NPY5R missense variant in 10 of 15 affected people in 1 pedigree, plus DLGAP1 and MAPK8IP3 signals that tracked all 3 sequenced cases in a branch of a second pedigree.1 The finding is a candidate-gene result, not a …

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Digital Mental Health Visualizations: 6 Tools for Anxiety, Depression

MHD featured image for digital mental health data visualizations in anxiety and depression care.

A 2026 participatory-design and case-study paper turned smartphone mental-health data into 6 clinician-facing visualizations for an 8-week anxiety/depression digital clinic, using feedback from 15 clinicians and 3 clinical supervisors. The useful claim is workflow-level: charts made passive sensing and symptom ratings discussable inside care, but the paper did not test whether the visualizations improved clinical …

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Childhood Anxiety Linked to DNA Methylation and DMN-Limbic Development

MHD featured image for childhood anxiety, DNA methylation, and DMN-limbic network development.

A 2026 Singapore birth-cohort preprint found a conditional childhood-anxiety signal: the cord-blood DNA methylation component predicted less age-13 anxiety only in boys in the low DMN-limbic trajectory group from ages 4.5 to 10.5 years. The paper is useful for mapping developmental risk biology, but it is not a screening test and it does not show …

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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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Naltrexone Reduced Reappraisal Distress in 38-Person Threat fMRI Trial

Photoreal illustration of brain with vmPFC, amygdala, and threat-processing circuitry highlighted under pharmacological challenge.

The endogenous opioid system has been a candidate target for novel anxiety treatments, but a 2026 placebo-controlled crossover fMRI study in 38 healthy volunteers ran opposite the hypothesis: instead of increasing threat-related distress and amygdala reactivity, 50 mg oral naltrexone reduced subjective distress during cognitive reappraisal (p = 0.044, d = 0.57) and shifted ventromedial …

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Misophonia vs Hyperacusis fMRI: 91 Adults Show Different Brain Networks

Photoreal illustration of brain regions responding to sound waves with overlapping but distinct activation maps, conveying two sound-sensitivity disorder profiles.

A 2026 task-based fMRI study of 91 young adults separated misophonia from hyperacusis inside the same “sound sensitivity” experiment: misophonia-containing groups showed visual association cortex and ACC-visual network changes during unpleasant sounds, while key hyperacusis contrasts showed weaker salience-control connectivity than misophonia.1 The scan data support separating trigger-specific sound aversion from loudness-driven sound intolerance, while …

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