A 2026 randomized study involving 80 people with schizophrenia found that adding high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation to risperidone improved PANSS cognitive-factor scores and aggressive-behavior ratings more than risperidone alone over 4 weeks.1 Research Highlights Design was randomized but short: 80 patients were assigned to risperidone alone or risperidone plus rTMS, 40 per group, with …
A 2026 mixed-methods study of group physical activity inside psychiatric treatment found that 90% of participants joined to have a healthy body and get fresh air, 97% felt supported by activity leaders, and 91% wanted to stay active with others after treatment.1 The useful message is not “tell people with severe mental illness to exercise”; …
A 2026 ENIGMA structural MRI preprint involving 3,958 people diagnosed with schizophrenia and 5,489 controls found 2 cortical-alteration subtypes rather than 1 uniform brain pattern.1 The result maps heterogeneity: anterior-cingulate and temporoparietal network patterns may separate patients, but the result is not a diagnostic MRI test. Research Highlights Large MRI base: The analysis included 3,958 …
A 30-trial meta-analysis found that cholinergic modulators improved schizophrenia negative symptoms, SMD −0.42, while the overall total PANSS/BPRS effect was not statistically significant.1 The clearest signal came from muscarinic agonists, which makes acetylcholine biology promising but not uniformly positive across every cholinergic drug class. Research Highlights Negative symptoms improved: Cholinergic modulators reduced PANSS-N/SANS negative symptom …
A 2026 systematic review argues that catatonia should be read as a limbic-cortical circuit syndrome, with motor shutdown tied to brain systems for threat, salience, motivation, and emotional regulation. Research Highlights 20 studies met criteria: the 2026 review screened 1,792 records, assessed 54 full texts, and included 20 articles: 13 observational studies and 7 case …
A 2026 cross-sectional schizophrenia study found no meaningful association between antipsychotic dose and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) performance in young, clinically stable outpatients. Cognitive scores related more strongly to symptom burden, illness duration, education, and age at diagnosis than to daily or 1-year cumulative antipsychotic exposure.1 Research Highlights Daily dose was not linked to MoCA: …
A 2026 systematic review found that microglia-related immune signals do not line up cleanly with psychiatric diagnosis labels: major depression showed frontolimbic TSPO-PET increases, while schizophrenia showed elevated kynurenic acid in cerebrospinal fluid.1 The strongest interpretation is that immune-brain markers may sort subgroups better than DSM categories do. Research Highlights Depression had the clearest TSPO-PET …