MentalHealthDaily

Stress Social Deficits Reversed by Amygdala-Oxytocin Circuit Suppression

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for stress-induced social changes, mPFC, amygdala, and oxytocin circuits.

A 2026 mouse circuit study found that restraint stress progressively reduced medial prefrontal social coding: mPFC excitatory-neuron transient rates fell to roughly 70-80% of baseline after acute stress and nearly 50% after chronic stress, while suppressing either basolateral-amygdala input or hypothalamic oxytocin input restored social discrimination and behavior.1 The result is a circuit-specific oxytocin finding, …

Stress Suppressed Food-Cue Reward Through NTS A2 Dopamine Circuits

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for stress, food cues, NTS A2 neurons, and dopamine reward circuitry.

A 2026 rat study found that foot-shock stress transiently reduced food-cue approach during the first 2 conditioned-stimulus trials (t = 2.807; P < 0.05), and inhibiting the nucleus of the solitary tract weakened that stress effect.1 The useful finding is selective: stress used an NTS-linked route to dampen cue-evoked VTA dopamine, while outcome-specific satiety reduced ...

Eco-Anxiety in Children: Art and Philosophy Trial

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for eco-anxiety in children and a classroom art and philosophy trial.

A 2026 pilot trial tested a classroom program for children's climate anxiety: art projects plus guided discussion were supposed to help students express climate emotions and build coping skills. The intervention did not work better than waitlist control, but it also did not make children more anxious. Research Highlights The intervention failed to separate: 46 …

Infrasound Raised Cortisol and Irritability Without Conscious Detection

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for infrasound, cortisol, and negative mood appraisal.

A 36-person experiment found that 18 Hz infrasound raised salivary cortisol and negative mood appraisal even though participants did not detect the infrasound above chance (p = 0.241).1 The result is a controlled acute signal, not proof that every real-world low-frequency noise complaint is physiologically caused by infrasound. Research Highlights Cortisol rose with infrasound: Infrasound …

Early-Life Visceral Stress Sensitized Auditory Brainstem Responses in Rats

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for early-life visceral stress and auditory brainstem sensitization.

A 40-rat early-life visceral stress study found auditory pathway sensitization without hearing-threshold loss: neonatal colorectal distension produced IBS-like visceral hypersensitivity, normal ABR thresholds, shortened auditory brainstem latencies, increased amplitudes, and 219 differentially expressed cochlear proteins.1 The result turns IBS-like stress exposure into a gut-pain and sensory-processing question. Research Highlights Visceral hypersensitivity was strong: At 20 …

PTSD Counterconditioning Strengthened fMRI Safety Memory

by GLOOM

A 2026 functional magnetic resonance imaging study involving 54 adults found that pairing a formerly threatening cue with positive images, a laboratory method called counterconditioning, strengthened later neural safety-memory signals in people with posttraumatic stress disorder. The experiment measured fear-learning biology, not PTSD symptom improvement after therapy.1 Research Highlights 54 adults were analyzed: Cooper et …

Low-Dose Oral THC Did Not Reduce Stress Memory Distress: 36-Adult Trier RCT

by GLOOM

Stylized Trier Social Stress Test memory scene with THC capsule and stress-response signals, representing a randomized trial showing no reduction in stress-memory distress.

Cannabis users often say the drug helps them blunt stressful memories. A 2026 randomized trial of 36 healthy adults tested low-dose oral THC against placebo during retrieval of a standardized lab stressor, and on every subjective and physiological measure that mattered, THC did nothing.1 Research Highlights 36-adult, 3-arm RCT: participants got placebo, 5 mg oral …