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OCD DBS Reduced Y-BOCS 42.9% as GPe Alpha Activity Decreased

MHD featured image for OCD DBS and GPe alpha activity.

A 2026 medRxiv preprint found that 10 severe obsessive-compulsive disorder patients treated with anterior-limb-of-internal-capsule DBS had a 42.9% average Y-BOCS symptom decrease over 6 months while alpha-band activity in the anterior globus pallidus externus fell.1 The strongest read is a response-marker signal: GPe alpha decreased during effective OCD DBS, but the sample is too small …

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England Forensic Mental Health Services: 32-Team Map

Community forensic mental health services are supposed to bridge secure hospitals, prisons, community psychiatry, and risk management. A 2026 mapping study of England found that these services still vary substantially in structure, referral routes, psychological treatments, and the way they handle restricted patients.1 Research Highlights 32 services were mapped: Freedom of Information responses from NHS …

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Ethiopia Somali Region Stigma Delayed Mental Health Care

MHD featured image for mental health stigma and care-seeking in Ethiopia's Somali Region.

A 2026 qualitative study from Ethiopia’s Somali Regional State found a harsh care-seeking pattern: mental illness was often recognized only when it looked like visible “madness,” was commonly explained through spiritual causes, and carried stigma severe enough to delay biomedical care.1 Research Highlights 16 interviews shaped the analysis: Warfa et al. interviewed health workers, service …

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Preschool Sleep Under 9 Hours Linked to Anxiety in 1,589 Children

MHD featured image for preschool sleep duration and anxiety symptoms.

A 2026 Shanghai study of 1,589 preschoolers found that children sleeping ≤9 hours at night had higher parent-rated anxiety scores than children sleeping >10 hours. The effect sizes were small, but the pattern appeared across total anxiety, physical injury fears, social phobia, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and generalized anxiety symptoms.1 Research Highlights 1,589 preschoolers were analyzed: Zhang …

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Reward Activation Failed as Bipolar-Psychosis Endophenotype

MHD featured image for reward brain activation and bipolar-psychosis endophenotype testing.

A 244-person functional MRI study found no significant evidence that ventral striatum activation during reward anticipation works as an endophenotype — a measurable trait used to connect inherited risk with diagnosed illness — for bipolar and psychotic disorders. Research Highlights The registered hypothesis failed: Barendse et al. found no significant ventral striatum reward-anticipation difference among …

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