MentalHealthDaily

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, …

Psychopathy, Empathy, and Cortical Structure in 804 Incarcerated Men

by GLOOM

Psychopathy is not a simple “low empathy equals abnormal brain scan” story. In 804 incarcerated men, psychopathy factors tracked empathic concern, perspective taking, cortical thickness, surface area, and cortical organization—but self-reported empathy scores did not map cleanly onto cortical structure.1 Research Highlights The sample was unusually large for forensic MRI. Radecki et al. analyzed 804 …

Social Cognition After Stroke/TBI: Insula-Cingulate Hub

by GLOOM

Editorial card showing a stylized brain with the insula, cingulate, middle frontal gyrus, and corpus callosum highlighted, representing the convergent neural substrates of social cognition after acquired brain injury.

A 2026 PRISMA systematic review by Cavallo et al. in Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience aggregates 43 neuroimaging studies of social cognition in adults with stroke or traumatic brain injury and finds the same handful of regions implicated again and again: the insula, cingulate cortex, middle frontal gyrus, and corpus callosum.1 Research Highlights Stroke/TBI social-cognition …

Delta Brain Waves: 0 Hz to 4 Hz

by GLOOM

Delta brain waves oscillate between 0 Hz and 4 Hz (cycles per second) and are regarded as the slowest brain waves that humans can produce. They are typically produced during the deep stages of sleep (stage 3 and stage 4) and are involved in regulating unconscious bodily processes such as heart beat regulation, kidney functioning, …

What To Look For In A Therapist: 9 Qualities To Keep In Mind

by GLOOM

Just like any profession, there are people good at their job, and individuals that aren’t very good at their job. Just because someone has an advanced degree in a certain profession does not make them automatically amazing or superior to anyone else. All it says is that they put in the work, passed their tests, …