functional connectivity Archives

Substance Use Disorder Brain Connectivity in 53 Studies

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for substance use disorder, resting-state fMRI, reward circuitry, and brain connectivity meta-analysis.

A 53-study resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) meta-analysis found substance use disorder (SUD) linked to altered connectivity across prefrontal, striatal, thalamic, cingulate, and amygdala circuits. The most clinically relevant finding was an impulsivity correlation, not a diagnostic brain signature. Research Highlights Meta-analysis scale was meaningful: Zhang et al. pooled 53 whole-brain resting-state functional magnetic …

PMDD Imaging Shows Higher Glymphatic and Hypothalamus Signals

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for PMDD glymphatic activity and hypothalamus connectivity.

A 2026 case-control imaging study found that 23 women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder had higher left DTI-ALPS glymphatic index than 27 healthy controls (p = 0.024), plus wider hypothalamus connectivity across emotion and subcortical networks.1 The result adds a brain-fluid-clearance and stress-network layer to PMDD biology, but the evidence is still small-sample imaging rather than …

Neonatal Brain MRI Shows Gyri Are Connectivity Hubs by 38-44 Weeks

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for neonatal MRI, cortical gyri, sulci, and early brain connectivity.

A 2026 developing Human Connectome Project analysis of 438 full-term neonates found that the newborn cortex already had an adult-like folding hierarchy: gyri connected most strongly to other gyri, sulci connected most weakly to other sulci, and structure-function coupling shifted near 41 to 42 weeks postmenstrual age.1 Research Highlights Gyri were already high-connectivity hubs: across …

REDDI MEG Classifier Separated 4 Neurodegenerative Diseases at 0.81

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for REDDI MEG differential diagnosis research.

A 2026 medRxiv preprint found that REDDI, a resting-state magnetoencephalography machine-learning pipeline, separated mild cognitive impairment, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis with 0.81 ± 0.04 balanced accuracy across 5 folds.1 That is a meaningful jump over the prior 67.1% MEG benchmark, but it is still research-stage decision support rather than a clinical …

Subcortical Connectivity Differs in Schizophrenia, Bipolar, Depression

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for subcortical connectivity patterns across schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression.

A 2026 resting-state fMRI study of 800 adults found intra-thalamic hypoconnectivity across schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression, but schizophrenia showed far broader subcortical dysconnectivity than bipolar disorder or depression.1 The calibrated read is that these diagnoses may share a thalamic vulnerability while diverging in striatal and limbic circuitry. Research Highlights Shared thalamic deficit: In …

Autism vs. ADHD Connectome Study: Frontal-DMN Signal Tracks Autism Severity

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for autism, ADHD, and connectome-based symptom mapping.

A 166-child resting-state fMRI study found that clinician-observed autism severity, not ADHD severity, tracked connectivity strength between a left middle frontal gyrus node and the posterior cingulate/default mode network across children diagnosed with autism or ADHD without autism. The result is transdiagnostic, but asymmetrical: autism traits carried the connectome signal after ADHD ratings were controlled.1 …

Language and Theory of Mind Separate by Age 3 in Child Brain Scans

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for language and theory of mind brain development in children.

A 2026 fMRI study found language and theory-of-mind activation already separated in 54 child sessions from ages 3-9, with strict child overlap near zero in the left superior temporal lobe (Dice 0.015) and no evidence that the 2 systems disentangled with age.1 The result pushes against a simple developmental story in which language grows out …