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Spanish Rett Syndrome Behavior Questionnaire: ICC 0.907

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A 2026 Spanish Rett Syndrome Behavior Questionnaire validation preprint found strong test-retest reliability across 51 caregivers, including an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.907 and a 31-person short-interval subset with Pearson r2 = 0.8663.1 The result supports Spanish-language research access, but it is linguistic validation rather than proof that the scale diagnoses Rett syndrome or measures …

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Blood microRNAs Linked to Hippocampal Atrophy in Rhineland Study

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A 2026 Molecular Psychiatry analysis from the Rhineland Study found that blood-derived microRNA signatures were associated with hippocampal brain structure: 6 microRNAs linked cross-sectionally to left hippocampal volume, and 5 different microRNAs linked longitudinally to hippocampal atrophy rates.1 The result is biomarker-discovery evidence for brain aging, not a ready dementia blood test. Research Highlights Baseline …

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PINK1 and Parkin Link Parkinson’s Disease to Failed Mitochondrial Cleanup

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A 2026 review ties the Parkinson’s disease genes PINK1 and parkin to damaged-mitochondria cleanup, from damage sensing and ubiquitin tagging to autophagy recruitment and lysosomal degradation.1 That shifts “mitochondrial dysfunction” into specific failure points: tagging, extraction, transport, autophagosome recruitment, and degradation. Research Highlights 18 PARK loci frame inherited risk: PARK2 encodes parkin and PARK6 encodes …

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MDD and Alcohol Use Disorder Polygenic Scores Add 4.88% Prediction

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A 2026 Add Health analysis found that combining major-depression and alcohol-use-disorder polygenic scores added 4.88% variance for comorbid MDD-AUD prediction, while same-trait scores added only 0.65% for MDD and 1.52% for AUD alone.1 The genetic signal is strongest where the clinical problem is hardest: depression plus alcohol-use disorder, not either diagnosis in isolation. Research Highlights …

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NOS3 TT Variant Linked to 1.72x Cognitive Risk in First-Episode Depression

A 2026 cross-sectional study of 519 older adults with first-episode depression found that the NOS3 rs1799983 TT genotype was independently associated with cognitive impairment, adjusted OR 1.720 (95% CI 1.027-2.882).1 The result is strongest as a vascular-inflammation clue, not as a ready clinical genetic test. Research Highlights TT genotype carried the headline signal: in multivariable …

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Leigh Syndrome Brain Organoids: Azoles Rescued Lactate 20%

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A 2026 Leigh syndrome study combined a cell-type-specific deep-learning screen with a 2,250-drug yeast survival screen and found the same drug family from both directions: azoles, with talarozole and sertaconazole lowering lactate release by 20% in SURF1-mutant midbrain organoids.1 The finding is preclinical, but it is stronger than a single in silico hit because the …

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