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Ubiquinol for Multiple System Atrophy: First Positive Repurposing Trial

Photoreal illustration of misfolded alpha-synuclein in glial cells with drug molecule motifs, representing repurposed-drug therapeutics in MSA.

Multiple system atrophy is a rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disease with no proven disease-modifying therapy. A 2026 review by Jeong and colleagues tracks two decades of repurposed-drug trials, with one recent positive Phase 2 result.1 Research Highlights Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a fatal α-synuclein disorder distinct from Parkinson’s disease. It progresses faster than PD (median …

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Lurasidone Improves Positive Symptoms of Schizophrenia More Than Negative

MHD featured image for Lurasidone PANSS Domains: Positive Symptoms Lead, Negative Lag.

Lurasidone is approved for schizophrenia and bipolar depression on the strength of acute trials that mostly reported a single number: the change in PANSS total score. A 2026 post-hoc analysis of the JEWEL Phase 3 trial pulls that number apart, looking separately at five symptom domains and at all 30 individual items of the PANSS …

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Psychedelic Media Coverage Outpaced Evidence (2017–2024)

Photoreal illustration of newspaper headlines and scientific journals about psychedelic treatments, conveying media-evidence calibration.

Psychedelic-assisted therapy has been one of the most-covered mental-health stories of the past decade. A 2026 quantitative analysis by Evers and colleagues maps how media enthusiasm grew, peaked, and partially pulled back across major U.S. outlets — and how the coverage related to the actual evidence base for depression and PTSD.1 Research Highlights Psychedelic clinical …

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Teenage Cannabis Use vs. Cognition and Brain Development: THC vs. CBD (Toxicology Data)

Photoreal illustration of an adolescent brain with overlay of cannabis molecules and cognitive metrics, conveying developmental neurocognitive impact.

Studies of adolescent cannabis effects on cognition have been limited by self-report and confounding. A 2026 longitudinal study by Wade and colleagues uses the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) cohort with both self-report and biological toxicology, separating THC and CBD effects on developing cognition.1 Research Highlights Adolescence is a critical window for cognitive maturation, with …

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Naltrexone/Bupropion Reduced Food Intake in Binge-Eating Lab Study

Photoreal illustration of brain reward circuitry overlaid on imagery of palatable food, conveying pharmacological reduction of consummatory reward.

Lisdexamfetamine remains the only FDA-approved medication for binge-eating disorder — a serious condition affecting roughly 1.2% of adults. A 2026 human laboratory study by McKee and colleagues tests whether naltrexone/bupropion, already approved for obesity, reduces the food-reward mechanisms that drive binge episodes.1 Research Highlights Binge-eating disorder (BED) is the most common eating disorder in the …

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Striatal Dopamine Drops From Psychosis to Schizophrenia Remission

Photoreal illustration of a brain with the striatum highlighted and dopamine synthesis pathways visualized, representing longitudinal PET imaging in schizophrenia.

The dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia is the field’s longest-running mechanistic story, and most of its supporting evidence has been cross-sectional. A 2026 longitudinal PET study by Schulz and colleagues followed the same 28 patients across psychosis and early remission.1 Research Highlights The dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia is the field’s longest-running mechanistic story. Cross-sectional 18F-DOPA PET …

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PTSD With Depression Hits AMPA Receptors Harder in Rat Models

Photoreal illustration of synaptic AMPA receptors and stressed neuron, conveying glutamate-system dysregulation in PTSD-MDD comorbidity.

PTSD and major depressive disorder co-occur in roughly half of patients with either diagnosis, and the comorbid presentation is more severe than either alone. The mechanistic question has been whether comorbidity reflects synergistic biology or simple symptom additivity. A 2026 rat-model study by Jiang and colleagues tests this directly, finding that PTSD-MDD comorbid rats show …

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