MentalHealthDaily

NREM2 Dreaming Preserved Subjective Sleep Depth in 1,024 Awakenings

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for NREM2 dreaming and subjective sleep depth.

A 2026 PLOS Biology study using 256-electrode EEG and 1,024 NREM2 awakenings found that immersive dreaming predicted deeper subjective sleep, beta = 0.277, while reflective thought predicted shallower subjective sleep, beta = −0.195.1 Deep-feeling sleep can include immersive conscious experience. Research Highlights Immersion predicted depth: Perceptual immersion in NREM2 dreams was positively associated with subjective …

tDCS for Empathy: rTPJ Increased Other-Pain Signals, DLPFC Did Not

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for tDCS empathy and rTPJ versus DLPFC social cognition.

A 2026 Psychological Medicine study involving 196 healthy adults found that transcranial direct current stimulation over the right temporoparietal junction increased cognitive empathy signals across pain and video tasks, while left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex stimulation produced narrower and less consistent effects.1 The useful finding is anatomical calibration: rTPJ looked more like an other-state representation target, …

Image Memorability, Not Recognition Success, Drove N400 Encoding Signals

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for image memorability and N400 EEG signals.

A 2026 EEG study found that image memorability predicted recognition strongly, z = 9.17, p < 0.001, and the N400 encoding signal tracked memorability after later recognition success was included in the same model.1 The result weakens the common shortcut that every hit-vs-miss brain signal is purely an encoding-success signal. Research Highlights Memorability predicted recognition: …

Video Calls Preserved Empathy for Pain in EEG Study

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for video calls, empathy for pain, and EEG.

A 35-person EEG study found that pain empathy did not collapse when live two-way video was replaced by prerecorded viewing: observer-target pain-rating correlations were nearly identical during video calls and recordings, r = 0.65 vs. r = 0.64, both p < 0.001.1 The calibrated read is narrow but useful: temporal immediacy was not required for …

Smartphone Use Revealed Beta-Burst Cortical Inhibition During Touches

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for smartphone use, beta bursts, and cortical inhibition.

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 …

24-Minute Yoga Did Not Lower Cortisol in a 19-Person Stress Pilot

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for acute yoga and stress biomarkers.

A 2026 randomized exploratory pilot found that a single 24-minute yoga session did not significantly lower salivary cortisol or salivary alpha-amylase compared with quiet sitting in 19 stressed adults.1 The acute yoga signal was physiological but not the simple stress-biomarker drop that wellness claims often imply. Research Highlights Biomarker claim failed: Yoga did not significantly …

Psilocybin First Use Changed Brain Signals for 1 Month

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for first-time psilocybin use, brain entropy, MRI changes, and psychological insight.

A 2026 mechanistic study involving 28 healthy adults found that a single 25 mg psilocybin session changed acute brain entropy, psychological insight, well-being, cognitive flexibility, and some MRI-derived white-matter signals for up to 1 month. Research Highlights Acute brain entropy rose clearly: 25 mg psilocybin increased Lempel-Ziv complexity (LZc; a measure of signal irregularity) at …