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Ultra-Processed Foods Linked to Lower Attention in 2,192 Adults

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A 2026 Australian study involving 2,192 dementia-free adults found that each 10% higher ultra-processed food intake was associated with 0.05-point lower attention and 0.24-point higher modified CAIDE dementia-risk score.1 The memory result was not significant, so the honest read is attention and risk-score signal, not global cognitive collapse. Research Highlights Attention was lower: Each 10% …

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Smartphone Music Pulmonary Rehab Improved COPD Anxiety by 2.31 HADS Points

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A 70-person COPD trial found that 12 weeks of app-based rhythm-guided walking plus singing improved shuttle-walk distance by 56.35 m and lowered HADS-anxiety by 2.31 points vs. usual care; rhythm-guided walking without singing did not clearly separate from usual care.1 Research Highlights Combined training beat usual care: the multimodule group improved incremental shuttle walking test …

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AVATAR Therapy Reduced Auditory Hallucination Severity in 8 Trials

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A 2026 meta-analysis of 8 controlled trials found that AVATAR therapy reduced auditory verbal hallucination severity after treatment, Hedges’ g = −0.40, 95% CI −0.54 to −0.25, across 978 participants.1 The signal is real, but the strongest reading is short-term symptom calibration rather than a finished replacement for standard psychosis care. Research Highlights Voice severity …

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Smartphone Use Revealed Beta-Burst Cortical Inhibition During Touches

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An iScience EEG study found that approximately 80 minutes of natural smartphone use was interleaved with transient beta bursts, especially over bilateral sensorimotor cortex, and touchscreen intervals became longer when sensorimotor bursts were present.1 Research Highlights Natural smartphone behavior carried beta bursts: participants used smartphones with the right thumb for approximately 80 minutes while EEG …

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NMDAR/TRPM4 Death Complex Blocker Preserved Memory in Alzheimer’s Mice

MHD featured image for the NMDAR/TRPM4 death complex, FP802, and Alzheimer's mouse-model memory protection.

A 2026 Molecular Psychiatry study found that oral FP802 disrupted the NMDAR/TRPM4 death complex and preserved memory-task performance in 5xFAD Alzheimer’s mice treated for 3 months.1 The finding is mechanistically sharper than a generic anti-amyloid claim: FP802 targeted a glutamate-toxicity complex downstream of amyloid stress. Research Highlights Complex formation was blocked: 5xFAD mice had increased …

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Mental Health AI Agents: 0.80 Sensitivity, Weak Real-World Evidence

Mental-health AI agents are software systems that use artificial intelligence to screen, coach, triage, document, or coordinate care across mental-health workflows. A 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis of systems published from 2023 to 2025 found strong offline diagnostic metrics, but the evidence still leans much more heavily on chatbot demos and benchmark tasks than on …

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