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Teen Substance Use in South Africa: 30-Study Meta-Analysis

A 2026 PRISMA-compliant systematic review and meta-analysis in Drug and Alcohol Review consolidated 30 publications covering 202 prevalence estimates from 120,041 South African adolescents: pooled lifetime prevalence was 35.09% for alcohol use, 25.47% for tobacco use, and 10.47% for cannabis use.1 Research Highlights 30 publications, 202 estimates: pooled data covered 120,041 South African adolescents. Alcohol …

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Anxious Depression fMRI Meta-Analysis Finds Left Temporal Activation

Editorial brain-map card for anxious depression with highlighted limbic and prefrontal regions from an earlier draft framing.

A 2026 fMRI meta-analysis of 11 studies found a narrow anxious-depression signal: 829 anxious-depression patients differed from 681 non-anxious MDD patients in left middle temporal gyrus activation (SDM-Z = 2.046, p = 0.020), while healthy-control contrasts centered on the anterior commissure and right middle frontal gyrus. The calibrated interpretation is not “amygdala and insula hyperactivity …

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Gamma Brain Stimulation Helps Schizophrenia More Than Depression

Photoreal illustration of gamma-frequency brain stimulation showing TMS coil and oscillation waveforms in 30-50 Hz range over a brain.

A 2026 meta-analysis of 56 controlled trials found the clearest gamma-frequency neuromodulation signal in schizophrenia: overall symptoms improved vs. control (g = −0.46), global cognition improved (g = 0.55), and MDD showed a smaller depression effect than the schizophrenia symptom estimate (g = −0.34). Bipolar disorder and autism stayed directional but nonsignificant, and the paper’s …

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