Resting-state fMRI studies of postpartum depression have produced inconsistent results for years. A 2026 voxel-based meta-analysis pooled 12 studies of 475 patients and found 4 reliable regional differences (amygdala, precuneus, occipital, precentral cortex) at uncorrected thresholds, none of which held up under strict family-wise error correction.1 Research Highlights 12-study fMRI pool: Chen et al. analyzed …
A 97-dyad adolescent fMRI study found that trauma-exposed youth with high posttraumatic stress symptoms did not use parent-observed safety learning in the usual way: their arousal rose to a safety cue during vicarious extinction, F(1,159) = 4.81, p = 0.029, and parent-child physiological synchrony no longer predicted lower skin conductance during early safety learning.1 The …
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 …
A 2026 fMRI study of 45 adults with strong pro- or anti-refugee stances found that people made more socially mindful choices for ingroup partners than for outgroup or unclassified partners, with mean socially mindful choices of 19.36 for ingroup, 17.18 for outgroup, and 16.31 for unclassified partners.1 Outgroup prosocial choices still occurred, but they recruited …
A 2026 brain tumor prehabilitation study involving 26 surgical patients found that language-targeted non-invasive stimulation plus intensive language training shifted fMRI language activation away from the stimulation target, while measured language and cognition stayed stable. Research Highlights Language-targeted prehabilitation moved the fMRI signal: the group-by-time interaction for stimulation-target overlap was significant, F(1,23) = 4.61, p …
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 …
A 2026 ABCD cohort preprint involving 10,112 youth found that childhood poverty strengthened the link between cumulative early-life adversity and later behavioral problems; among poverty-exposed youth, inhibitory-control fMRI profiles split children into higher-vulnerability and buffered pathways. Research Highlights Poverty steepened adversity risk: In 10,112 ABCD youth, childhood poverty amplified the baseline early-life-adversity-to-CBCL Total Problems slope …