#brainconnectivity — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #brainconnectivity, aggregated by home.social.
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DATE: August 21, 2026 at 11:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Oxytocin has opposite effects on men’s generosity depending on a their childhood experiences
Childhood experiences can leave a lasting imprint on a person’s willingness to help strangers, but a naturally occurring hormone called oxytocin might have the power to temporarily shift these tendencies. A recent study published in Translational Psychiatry suggests that a dose of oxytocin can increase altruistic donations in adults who experienced higher levels of childhood adversity, producing the opposite effect in those with fewer adverse early experiences. The findings provide evidence that early life events shape how the brain responds to social chemicals later in life.
Altruistic behavior involves choosing to help others even when it comes at a personal cost. Past research indicates that experiencing adversity during childhood, such as emotional neglect or physical abuse, is linked to lasting reductions in this type of generous behavior.
Seeking to uncover the biological factors behind this trend, scientists designed a new experiment. The research team was led by Nina Marsh, a researcher in the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg in Germany, and Vanessa Jeske, alongside colleagues from the University of Bonn and Georgetown University.
“What fascinates me about altruism is that helping another person—particularly a stranger at a personal cost—is anything but self-evident,” Marsh said. “Yet we see it across societies and throughout human history. Understanding what enables people to transcend immediate self-interest is therefore not only a question about social behavior, but also about something fundamental to human coexistence. It is precisely this complexity that makes the study of human altruistic behavior so fascinating to me.”
People who encounter severe early stressors often develop a heightened sensitivity to social threats, which can make it more difficult for them to form trusting bonds or engage in acts of generosity as adults.
“One question that has fascinated me is how our earliest life experiences shape our willingness to help others later in life,” Marsh noted. “Adverse childhood experiences are remarkably complex and can affect people in very different ways. While their links to mental health have been studied extensively, much less is known about how they relate to prosocial behavior in adulthood.”
To understand if this decline in prosocial behavior can be temporarily altered, the researchers looked to oxytocin. Oxytocin is a hormone produced in the brain that plays a role in regulating social behaviors like empathy, bonding, and trust. “We therefore wanted to explore whether childhood adversity might shape how people respond to oxytocin during altruistic decision-making—and what happens in the brain during those decisions,” Marsh said.
The scientists recruited 54 healthy young men, with an average age of about 25, for a placebo-controlled experiment. Participants were screened to ensure they had no current or past psychiatric illnesses. The research team also measured and controlled for several baseline factors, including anxiety, depressive symptoms, autistic traits, empathy, personal income, and how often the participants had donated money in the past year.
Participants were randomly assigned to receive either a nasal spray containing oxytocin or a placebo spray with no active ingredients. Neither the participants nor the scientists running the experiment knew who received which spray. About 40 minutes after taking the nasal spray, participants completed a monetary donation task while lying inside a high-resolution brain scanner known as an MRI. This specific timing was chosen to capture the peak behavioral and neural effects of the nasal spray.
During the brain scan, participants were given an initial endowment of 60 Euros. They viewed 60 short profiles on a screen, with 40 profiles describing a stranger in a state of need and 20 describing individuals with no specific need. For each scenario, participants had up to 15 seconds to choose to donate anywhere from zero to one Euro in 10-cent increments. They were informed that any money they chose to give would be deducted from their final payout.
In the placebo group, the scientists found that early life experiences predicted donation amounts. Participants who reported higher levels of childhood adversity donated an average of just 8.22 Euros in total. Participants with lower levels of childhood adversity donated more than twice that amount, averaging 20.01 Euros.
The oxytocin spray produced contrasting effects depending on a person’s background. For those with a history of higher childhood adversity, oxytocin nearly doubled their altruistic behavior, raising their average total donation from 8.22 Euros to 15.68 Euros. For participants who experienced lower childhood adversity, oxytocin had the opposite effect. In this low-adversity group, the hormone cut their average donations by 53 percent, dropping their total from 20.01 Euros down to 9.46 Euros.
This bidirectional result suggests that the hormone does not act as a simple switch that uniformly turns on generosity. “Our findings once again challenge the popular idea to refer to oxytocin as a simple ‘love hormone,'” Marsh told PsyPost.
“Oxytocin does not uniformly promote prosocial behavior—its effects are much more complex. We know that individual characteristics as well as environmental and biographical factors can influence both the direction and magnitude of oxytocin’s behavioral effects. Our study suggests that early life experiences are another important part of this picture.”
Rather than acting as a universal booster for giving, oxytocin appears to tune a person’s sensitivity to social cues based on their existing baseline. “Perhaps the most important takeaway is that early life experiences do not determine who we become,” Marsh said. “But they may shape how we respond to social and neurobiological signals later in life.”
For those whose social sensitivity was lowered by early adversity, oxytocin might boost their attention to others’ needs into an optimal range for helping. For those who already have high social sensitivity, extra oxytocin might make them overly sensitive or hesitant, reducing their willingness to give. “In our study, oxytocin did not simply make people ‘more altruistic,'” Marsh noted. “Its effects differed depending on participants’ childhood experiences, highlighting how biology and individual life history can interact in shaping social behavior.”
Brain scans helped explain these behavioral shifts by tracking functional connectivity, which is a measure of how well different brain areas communicate with one another in real time. The scientists focused on the connection between the medial prefrontal cortex and the middle cingulate cortex. The medial prefrontal cortex is a brain area involved in taking another person’s perspective and regulating emotions. The middle cingulate cortex is a region that helps detect socially relevant information and guides adaptive responses.
In the placebo group, higher childhood adversity was associated with stronger communication between these two brain regions, and this heightened neural connectivity corresponded with lower donation amounts. When given oxytocin, this communication pattern reversed. The hormone reduced the connectivity between these regions in the high-adversity group, which aligned with their increased willingness to donate money to strangers.
The researchers combined the behavioral data and the brain connectivity data into a single predictive mathematical model. This combined model explained almost 47 percent of the variation in how much money people chose to donate. This finding indicates that altruistic behavior is not just a psychological trait but is deeply rooted in the architecture and communication patterns of the brain.
Relying on self-reported questionnaires to measure childhood adversity means that memories of early experiences might be incomplete or influenced by a person’s current mood. “Childhood adversity is highly complex and heterogeneous: different types, timing, duration, and severity of adverse experiences may have very different effects, which cannot be fully captured by a single retrospective measure,” Marsh pointed out. “Our findings therefore provide an empirical foundation that describes associations with reported childhood adversity.”
Because the study only included healthy young men, the findings do not necessarily apply to broader populations. “Also, our sample consisted exclusively of healthy men, so the findings need to be replicated in larger and more diverse samples, particularly including women,” Marsh said. “Finally, our findings should not be interpreted as evidence that oxytocin can ‘reverse’ the effects of childhood adversity or as supporting its clinical use for this purpose.”
Observing how the brain’s social networks operate under various types of stress will help clarify exactly how early life events alter social processing.
“My long-term research asks a much broader question: What are the conditions under which empathy-based altruism unfolds?” Marsh explained. “I want to better understand how biographical, environmental, and neurobiological factors interact to shape our willingness to help others. This means looking beyond individual factors in isolation and studying how our experiences and biology jointly shape empathy, trust, cooperation, and altruistic behavior.”
The study, “Early life adversity shapes neural and behavioural responses to oxytocin during altruistic decision-making,” was authored by Nina Marsh, Vanessa Jeske, Mari Babasiz, Angela Herscheid, Ann-Kathrin Kreuder, Rüdiger Stirnberg, Tony Stoecker, Abigail A. Marsh, Johannes Schultz, and René Hurlemann.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #Oxytocin #Altruism #ChildhoodAdversity #SocialNeuroscience #BrainConnectivity #ProsocialBehavior #Neurobiology #Hormones #DonationBehavior #MentalHealthResearch
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DATE: August 21, 2026 at 11:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Oxytocin has opposite effects on men’s generosity depending on a their childhood experiences
Childhood experiences can leave a lasting imprint on a person’s willingness to help strangers, but a naturally occurring hormone called oxytocin might have the power to temporarily shift these tendencies. A recent study published in Translational Psychiatry suggests that a dose of oxytocin can increase altruistic donations in adults who experienced higher levels of childhood adversity, producing the opposite effect in those with fewer adverse early experiences. The findings provide evidence that early life events shape how the brain responds to social chemicals later in life.
Altruistic behavior involves choosing to help others even when it comes at a personal cost. Past research indicates that experiencing adversity during childhood, such as emotional neglect or physical abuse, is linked to lasting reductions in this type of generous behavior.
Seeking to uncover the biological factors behind this trend, scientists designed a new experiment. The research team was led by Nina Marsh, a researcher in the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg in Germany, and Vanessa Jeske, alongside colleagues from the University of Bonn and Georgetown University.
“What fascinates me about altruism is that helping another person—particularly a stranger at a personal cost—is anything but self-evident,” Marsh said. “Yet we see it across societies and throughout human history. Understanding what enables people to transcend immediate self-interest is therefore not only a question about social behavior, but also about something fundamental to human coexistence. It is precisely this complexity that makes the study of human altruistic behavior so fascinating to me.”
People who encounter severe early stressors often develop a heightened sensitivity to social threats, which can make it more difficult for them to form trusting bonds or engage in acts of generosity as adults.
“One question that has fascinated me is how our earliest life experiences shape our willingness to help others later in life,” Marsh noted. “Adverse childhood experiences are remarkably complex and can affect people in very different ways. While their links to mental health have been studied extensively, much less is known about how they relate to prosocial behavior in adulthood.”
To understand if this decline in prosocial behavior can be temporarily altered, the researchers looked to oxytocin. Oxytocin is a hormone produced in the brain that plays a role in regulating social behaviors like empathy, bonding, and trust. “We therefore wanted to explore whether childhood adversity might shape how people respond to oxytocin during altruistic decision-making—and what happens in the brain during those decisions,” Marsh said.
The scientists recruited 54 healthy young men, with an average age of about 25, for a placebo-controlled experiment. Participants were screened to ensure they had no current or past psychiatric illnesses. The research team also measured and controlled for several baseline factors, including anxiety, depressive symptoms, autistic traits, empathy, personal income, and how often the participants had donated money in the past year.
Participants were randomly assigned to receive either a nasal spray containing oxytocin or a placebo spray with no active ingredients. Neither the participants nor the scientists running the experiment knew who received which spray. About 40 minutes after taking the nasal spray, participants completed a monetary donation task while lying inside a high-resolution brain scanner known as an MRI. This specific timing was chosen to capture the peak behavioral and neural effects of the nasal spray.
During the brain scan, participants were given an initial endowment of 60 Euros. They viewed 60 short profiles on a screen, with 40 profiles describing a stranger in a state of need and 20 describing individuals with no specific need. For each scenario, participants had up to 15 seconds to choose to donate anywhere from zero to one Euro in 10-cent increments. They were informed that any money they chose to give would be deducted from their final payout.
In the placebo group, the scientists found that early life experiences predicted donation amounts. Participants who reported higher levels of childhood adversity donated an average of just 8.22 Euros in total. Participants with lower levels of childhood adversity donated more than twice that amount, averaging 20.01 Euros.
The oxytocin spray produced contrasting effects depending on a person’s background. For those with a history of higher childhood adversity, oxytocin nearly doubled their altruistic behavior, raising their average total donation from 8.22 Euros to 15.68 Euros. For participants who experienced lower childhood adversity, oxytocin had the opposite effect. In this low-adversity group, the hormone cut their average donations by 53 percent, dropping their total from 20.01 Euros down to 9.46 Euros.
This bidirectional result suggests that the hormone does not act as a simple switch that uniformly turns on generosity. “Our findings once again challenge the popular idea to refer to oxytocin as a simple ‘love hormone,'” Marsh told PsyPost.
“Oxytocin does not uniformly promote prosocial behavior—its effects are much more complex. We know that individual characteristics as well as environmental and biographical factors can influence both the direction and magnitude of oxytocin’s behavioral effects. Our study suggests that early life experiences are another important part of this picture.”
Rather than acting as a universal booster for giving, oxytocin appears to tune a person’s sensitivity to social cues based on their existing baseline. “Perhaps the most important takeaway is that early life experiences do not determine who we become,” Marsh said. “But they may shape how we respond to social and neurobiological signals later in life.”
For those whose social sensitivity was lowered by early adversity, oxytocin might boost their attention to others’ needs into an optimal range for helping. For those who already have high social sensitivity, extra oxytocin might make them overly sensitive or hesitant, reducing their willingness to give. “In our study, oxytocin did not simply make people ‘more altruistic,'” Marsh noted. “Its effects differed depending on participants’ childhood experiences, highlighting how biology and individual life history can interact in shaping social behavior.”
Brain scans helped explain these behavioral shifts by tracking functional connectivity, which is a measure of how well different brain areas communicate with one another in real time. The scientists focused on the connection between the medial prefrontal cortex and the middle cingulate cortex. The medial prefrontal cortex is a brain area involved in taking another person’s perspective and regulating emotions. The middle cingulate cortex is a region that helps detect socially relevant information and guides adaptive responses.
In the placebo group, higher childhood adversity was associated with stronger communication between these two brain regions, and this heightened neural connectivity corresponded with lower donation amounts. When given oxytocin, this communication pattern reversed. The hormone reduced the connectivity between these regions in the high-adversity group, which aligned with their increased willingness to donate money to strangers.
The researchers combined the behavioral data and the brain connectivity data into a single predictive mathematical model. This combined model explained almost 47 percent of the variation in how much money people chose to donate. This finding indicates that altruistic behavior is not just a psychological trait but is deeply rooted in the architecture and communication patterns of the brain.
Relying on self-reported questionnaires to measure childhood adversity means that memories of early experiences might be incomplete or influenced by a person’s current mood. “Childhood adversity is highly complex and heterogeneous: different types, timing, duration, and severity of adverse experiences may have very different effects, which cannot be fully captured by a single retrospective measure,” Marsh pointed out. “Our findings therefore provide an empirical foundation that describes associations with reported childhood adversity.”
Because the study only included healthy young men, the findings do not necessarily apply to broader populations. “Also, our sample consisted exclusively of healthy men, so the findings need to be replicated in larger and more diverse samples, particularly including women,” Marsh said. “Finally, our findings should not be interpreted as evidence that oxytocin can ‘reverse’ the effects of childhood adversity or as supporting its clinical use for this purpose.”
Observing how the brain’s social networks operate under various types of stress will help clarify exactly how early life events alter social processing.
“My long-term research asks a much broader question: What are the conditions under which empathy-based altruism unfolds?” Marsh explained. “I want to better understand how biographical, environmental, and neurobiological factors interact to shape our willingness to help others. This means looking beyond individual factors in isolation and studying how our experiences and biology jointly shape empathy, trust, cooperation, and altruistic behavior.”
The study, “Early life adversity shapes neural and behavioural responses to oxytocin during altruistic decision-making,” was authored by Nina Marsh, Vanessa Jeske, Mari Babasiz, Angela Herscheid, Ann-Kathrin Kreuder, Rüdiger Stirnberg, Tony Stoecker, Abigail A. Marsh, Johannes Schultz, and René Hurlemann.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #Oxytocin #Altruism #ChildhoodAdversity #SocialNeuroscience #BrainConnectivity #ProsocialBehavior #Neurobiology #Hormones #DonationBehavior #MentalHealthResearch
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DATE: August 21, 2026 at 11:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Oxytocin has opposite effects on men’s generosity depending on a their childhood experiences
Childhood experiences can leave a lasting imprint on a person’s willingness to help strangers, but a naturally occurring hormone called oxytocin might have the power to temporarily shift these tendencies. A recent study published in Translational Psychiatry suggests that a dose of oxytocin can increase altruistic donations in adults who experienced higher levels of childhood adversity, producing the opposite effect in those with fewer adverse early experiences. The findings provide evidence that early life events shape how the brain responds to social chemicals later in life.
Altruistic behavior involves choosing to help others even when it comes at a personal cost. Past research indicates that experiencing adversity during childhood, such as emotional neglect or physical abuse, is linked to lasting reductions in this type of generous behavior.
Seeking to uncover the biological factors behind this trend, scientists designed a new experiment. The research team was led by Nina Marsh, a researcher in the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg in Germany, and Vanessa Jeske, alongside colleagues from the University of Bonn and Georgetown University.
“What fascinates me about altruism is that helping another person—particularly a stranger at a personal cost—is anything but self-evident,” Marsh said. “Yet we see it across societies and throughout human history. Understanding what enables people to transcend immediate self-interest is therefore not only a question about social behavior, but also about something fundamental to human coexistence. It is precisely this complexity that makes the study of human altruistic behavior so fascinating to me.”
People who encounter severe early stressors often develop a heightened sensitivity to social threats, which can make it more difficult for them to form trusting bonds or engage in acts of generosity as adults.
“One question that has fascinated me is how our earliest life experiences shape our willingness to help others later in life,” Marsh noted. “Adverse childhood experiences are remarkably complex and can affect people in very different ways. While their links to mental health have been studied extensively, much less is known about how they relate to prosocial behavior in adulthood.”
To understand if this decline in prosocial behavior can be temporarily altered, the researchers looked to oxytocin. Oxytocin is a hormone produced in the brain that plays a role in regulating social behaviors like empathy, bonding, and trust. “We therefore wanted to explore whether childhood adversity might shape how people respond to oxytocin during altruistic decision-making—and what happens in the brain during those decisions,” Marsh said.
The scientists recruited 54 healthy young men, with an average age of about 25, for a placebo-controlled experiment. Participants were screened to ensure they had no current or past psychiatric illnesses. The research team also measured and controlled for several baseline factors, including anxiety, depressive symptoms, autistic traits, empathy, personal income, and how often the participants had donated money in the past year.
Participants were randomly assigned to receive either a nasal spray containing oxytocin or a placebo spray with no active ingredients. Neither the participants nor the scientists running the experiment knew who received which spray. About 40 minutes after taking the nasal spray, participants completed a monetary donation task while lying inside a high-resolution brain scanner known as an MRI. This specific timing was chosen to capture the peak behavioral and neural effects of the nasal spray.
During the brain scan, participants were given an initial endowment of 60 Euros. They viewed 60 short profiles on a screen, with 40 profiles describing a stranger in a state of need and 20 describing individuals with no specific need. For each scenario, participants had up to 15 seconds to choose to donate anywhere from zero to one Euro in 10-cent increments. They were informed that any money they chose to give would be deducted from their final payout.
In the placebo group, the scientists found that early life experiences predicted donation amounts. Participants who reported higher levels of childhood adversity donated an average of just 8.22 Euros in total. Participants with lower levels of childhood adversity donated more than twice that amount, averaging 20.01 Euros.
The oxytocin spray produced contrasting effects depending on a person’s background. For those with a history of higher childhood adversity, oxytocin nearly doubled their altruistic behavior, raising their average total donation from 8.22 Euros to 15.68 Euros. For participants who experienced lower childhood adversity, oxytocin had the opposite effect. In this low-adversity group, the hormone cut their average donations by 53 percent, dropping their total from 20.01 Euros down to 9.46 Euros.
This bidirectional result suggests that the hormone does not act as a simple switch that uniformly turns on generosity. “Our findings once again challenge the popular idea to refer to oxytocin as a simple ‘love hormone,'” Marsh told PsyPost.
“Oxytocin does not uniformly promote prosocial behavior—its effects are much more complex. We know that individual characteristics as well as environmental and biographical factors can influence both the direction and magnitude of oxytocin’s behavioral effects. Our study suggests that early life experiences are another important part of this picture.”
Rather than acting as a universal booster for giving, oxytocin appears to tune a person’s sensitivity to social cues based on their existing baseline. “Perhaps the most important takeaway is that early life experiences do not determine who we become,” Marsh said. “But they may shape how we respond to social and neurobiological signals later in life.”
For those whose social sensitivity was lowered by early adversity, oxytocin might boost their attention to others’ needs into an optimal range for helping. For those who already have high social sensitivity, extra oxytocin might make them overly sensitive or hesitant, reducing their willingness to give. “In our study, oxytocin did not simply make people ‘more altruistic,'” Marsh noted. “Its effects differed depending on participants’ childhood experiences, highlighting how biology and individual life history can interact in shaping social behavior.”
Brain scans helped explain these behavioral shifts by tracking functional connectivity, which is a measure of how well different brain areas communicate with one another in real time. The scientists focused on the connection between the medial prefrontal cortex and the middle cingulate cortex. The medial prefrontal cortex is a brain area involved in taking another person’s perspective and regulating emotions. The middle cingulate cortex is a region that helps detect socially relevant information and guides adaptive responses.
In the placebo group, higher childhood adversity was associated with stronger communication between these two brain regions, and this heightened neural connectivity corresponded with lower donation amounts. When given oxytocin, this communication pattern reversed. The hormone reduced the connectivity between these regions in the high-adversity group, which aligned with their increased willingness to donate money to strangers.
The researchers combined the behavioral data and the brain connectivity data into a single predictive mathematical model. This combined model explained almost 47 percent of the variation in how much money people chose to donate. This finding indicates that altruistic behavior is not just a psychological trait but is deeply rooted in the architecture and communication patterns of the brain.
Relying on self-reported questionnaires to measure childhood adversity means that memories of early experiences might be incomplete or influenced by a person’s current mood. “Childhood adversity is highly complex and heterogeneous: different types, timing, duration, and severity of adverse experiences may have very different effects, which cannot be fully captured by a single retrospective measure,” Marsh pointed out. “Our findings therefore provide an empirical foundation that describes associations with reported childhood adversity.”
Because the study only included healthy young men, the findings do not necessarily apply to broader populations. “Also, our sample consisted exclusively of healthy men, so the findings need to be replicated in larger and more diverse samples, particularly including women,” Marsh said. “Finally, our findings should not be interpreted as evidence that oxytocin can ‘reverse’ the effects of childhood adversity or as supporting its clinical use for this purpose.”
Observing how the brain’s social networks operate under various types of stress will help clarify exactly how early life events alter social processing.
“My long-term research asks a much broader question: What are the conditions under which empathy-based altruism unfolds?” Marsh explained. “I want to better understand how biographical, environmental, and neurobiological factors interact to shape our willingness to help others. This means looking beyond individual factors in isolation and studying how our experiences and biology jointly shape empathy, trust, cooperation, and altruistic behavior.”
The study, “Early life adversity shapes neural and behavioural responses to oxytocin during altruistic decision-making,” was authored by Nina Marsh, Vanessa Jeske, Mari Babasiz, Angela Herscheid, Ann-Kathrin Kreuder, Rüdiger Stirnberg, Tony Stoecker, Abigail A. Marsh, Johannes Schultz, and René Hurlemann.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #Oxytocin #Altruism #ChildhoodAdversity #SocialNeuroscience #BrainConnectivity #ProsocialBehavior #Neurobiology #Hormones #DonationBehavior #MentalHealthResearch
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DATE: August 19, 2026 at 08:38PM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY PSYCHOLOGY FEEDTITLE: Researchers reveal deeper workings of brain’s information hub
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260819041224.htm
The brain has a remarkably flexible system for handling uncertainty and changing situations. Researchers found that the frontoparietal cortex constantly shifts how it communicates with other brain regions depending on what information is needed to make a decision. Rather than simply becoming more active when things get difficult, this network appears to reorganize itself in real time.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260819041224.htm
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #BrainResearch #FrontoparietalCortex #Neuroscience #DecisionMaking #Uncertainty #BrainNetworks #CognitiveFlexibility #NeuralCommunication #BrainConnectivity #NeuroscienceNews
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DATE: August 19, 2026 at 08:38PM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY PSYCHOLOGY FEEDTITLE: Researchers reveal deeper workings of brain’s information hub
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260819041224.htm
The brain has a remarkably flexible system for handling uncertainty and changing situations. Researchers found that the frontoparietal cortex constantly shifts how it communicates with other brain regions depending on what information is needed to make a decision. Rather than simply becoming more active when things get difficult, this network appears to reorganize itself in real time.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260819041224.htm
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #BrainResearch #FrontoparietalCortex #Neuroscience #DecisionMaking #Uncertainty #BrainNetworks #CognitiveFlexibility #NeuralCommunication #BrainConnectivity #NeuroscienceNews
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DATE: August 19, 2026 at 08:38PM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY PSYCHOLOGY FEEDTITLE: Researchers reveal deeper workings of brain’s information hub
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260819041224.htm
The brain has a remarkably flexible system for handling uncertainty and changing situations. Researchers found that the frontoparietal cortex constantly shifts how it communicates with other brain regions depending on what information is needed to make a decision. Rather than simply becoming more active when things get difficult, this network appears to reorganize itself in real time.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260819041224.htm
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #BrainResearch #FrontoparietalCortex #Neuroscience #DecisionMaking #Uncertainty #BrainNetworks #CognitiveFlexibility #NeuralCommunication #BrainConnectivity #NeuroscienceNews
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DATE: August 19, 2026 at 08:38PM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Researchers reveal deeper workings of brain’s information hub
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260819041224.htm
The brain has a remarkably flexible system for handling uncertainty and changing situations. Researchers found that the frontoparietal cortex constantly shifts how it communicates with other brain regions depending on what information is needed to make a decision. Rather than simply becoming more active when things get difficult, this network appears to reorganize itself in real time.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260819041224.htm
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #BrainResearch #FrontoparietalCortex #Neuroscience #DecisionMaking #UncertaintyProcessing #BrainConnectivity #NeuralNetworks #CognitiveScience #RealTimeReorganization #InformationHub
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DATE: August 19, 2026 at 08:38PM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Researchers reveal deeper workings of brain’s information hub
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260819041224.htm
The brain has a remarkably flexible system for handling uncertainty and changing situations. Researchers found that the frontoparietal cortex constantly shifts how it communicates with other brain regions depending on what information is needed to make a decision. Rather than simply becoming more active when things get difficult, this network appears to reorganize itself in real time.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260819041224.htm
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #BrainResearch #FrontoparietalCortex #Neuroscience #DecisionMaking #UncertaintyProcessing #BrainConnectivity #NeuralNetworks #CognitiveScience #RealTimeReorganization #InformationHub
-
DATE: August 19, 2026 at 08:38PM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Researchers reveal deeper workings of brain’s information hub
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260819041224.htm
The brain has a remarkably flexible system for handling uncertainty and changing situations. Researchers found that the frontoparietal cortex constantly shifts how it communicates with other brain regions depending on what information is needed to make a decision. Rather than simply becoming more active when things get difficult, this network appears to reorganize itself in real time.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260819041224.htm
-------------------------------------------------
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-
DATE: August 17, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Brain scans reveal two distinct biological profiles of migraine
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-scans-reveal-two-distinct-biological-profiles-of-migraine/
A recent analysis of brain scans has revealed that people who experience migraines can be grouped into two distinct biological categories. These categories are based on how the brain is wired and physically structured, offering a new way to understand the disorder beyond traditional symptom checklists. The findings were published in the journal Cephalalgia.
Migraine is a neurological condition that causes severe head pain, sensitivity to light, and other debilitating symptoms. Doctors currently classify the disorder based on how often attacks occur and whether a patient experiences an aura, which refers to visual or sensory disturbances preceding the headache. This symptom-based approach, outlined in the International Classification of Headache Disorders, often fails to predict which treatments will work best for individual patients.
The biological differences between people with migraines remain largely unmapped. Researchers suspect that categorizing patients based on brain biology, rather than just symptom frequency, might eventually improve treatment strategies. Stanford University researchers Jaiashre Sridhar and Danielle D. DeSouza led a team to investigate whether patterns in brain imaging could identify hidden biological subgroups.
To do this, the research team used two types of magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI. Structural MRI measures the physical dimensions of the brain, such as the volume and thickness of the outer layer known as the cerebral cortex, as well as deeper subcortical structures. Functional MRI tracks blood flow to observe how different brain regions communicate when a person is at rest, a metric called functional connectivity.
The researchers first analyzed combined structural and functional brain scan data from 111 individuals with migraines and 51 healthy controls. They used a mathematical algorithm to simplify the massive amount of data and group the patients based on shared biological patterns. This exploratory approach was designed to let the data dictate the groups rather than relying on prior clinical labels.
This combined analysis identified two biological subgroups with distinct brain profiles and clinical experiences. One group tended to be older, had lived with migraines longer, and reported higher levels of daily disability. This higher-burden group also experienced longer individual headache durations and lower confidence in their ability to manage pain.
In this higher-burden group, functional MRI scans showed elevated connectivity between deeper brain structures and cortical networks responsible for attention, movement, and visual processing. Structurally, these individuals also exhibited reduced brain volume across several cortical regions, including the frontal, parietal, and temporal lobes, compared with the other subgroup. Many of these heightened functional connections were also elevated relative to the healthy control group.
The second subgroup presented a milder biological profile. Their brain structure was largely preserved in comparison to the first group. Their functional connectivity patterns and brain volumes were not statistically significant when compared to the healthy control group.
After identifying the combined groups, the researchers conducted a secondary analysis using only the functional connectivity data. They applied the same mathematical grouping process to see how the patients would cluster based solely on how different brain regions communicate.
This functional-only model produced two subgroups that closely matched the groups found in the initial combined analysis. Patients with higher clinical burden again clustered together, exhibiting similar patterns of elevated brain connectivity. When grouped this way, the resulting clusters did not display any differences in brain structure, indicating that functional connectivity drove most of the initial subgroupings.
Next, the team ran a third clustering model using exclusively structural MRI data. They grouped the same patients based entirely on the thickness and volume of their brain tissue.
This structural-only analysis generated two entirely different patient clusters that had almost no overlap with the groups formed by the combined or functional data. While these two new groups showed widespread differences in brain volume, they exhibited no differences in functional connectivity. This divergence indicates that structural variations represent a completely separate dimension of migraine biology than functional variations.
To verify the stability of their findings, the researchers performed a final sensitivity analysis. Instead of looking at broad functional networks, they repeated the combined analysis using a much more detailed map that divided the brain into over a hundred smaller, specific regions.
The results of this fine-grained analysis strongly mirrored the original combined model. Between 90 and 95 percent of the participants were assigned to the exact same subgroups as before. This consistency suggests that the biological groups are robust, regardless of the scale used to map the brain.
While these biological groupings provide a new perspective on migraines, the research relies on data collected at a single point in time. It is not possible to know whether prolonged migraines alter the brain over the years, or if these brain differences exist first and influence how the condition develops. The clinical differences between the two subgroups were also relatively subtle, and the groups did not align with traditional categories like chronic or episodic migraine.
The researchers noted that this was a modestly sized study, meaning the results will need to be verified in larger populations. The study also did not track the exact phase of the patients’ migraine cycle during the brain scans, such as whether they were actively having a migraine or in a resting phase. Additionally, the researchers did not account for all preventive medications the participants might have been taking at the time.
Future research will need to track larger groups of patients over extended periods to see how these biological profiles evolve and whether they can eventually guide medical care.
The study, “Neuroimaging-based subtyping of migraine identifies clinically distinct phenotypes,” was authored by Jaiashre Sridhar, Mahsa Babaei, Bharati M. Sanjanwala, Robert P. Cowan, and Danielle D. DeSouza.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-scans-reveal-two-distinct-biological-profiles-of-migraine/
-------------------------------------------------
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-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #MigraineBiology #Neuroimaging #BrainConnectivity #StructuralFunctionalMRI #MigraineSubtypes #CephalalgiaStudy #BrainNetworks #PersonalizedMedicine #NeurologyResearch #MigrainePhenotypes
-
DATE: August 17, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Brain scans reveal two distinct biological profiles of migraine
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-scans-reveal-two-distinct-biological-profiles-of-migraine/
A recent analysis of brain scans has revealed that people who experience migraines can be grouped into two distinct biological categories. These categories are based on how the brain is wired and physically structured, offering a new way to understand the disorder beyond traditional symptom checklists. The findings were published in the journal Cephalalgia.
Migraine is a neurological condition that causes severe head pain, sensitivity to light, and other debilitating symptoms. Doctors currently classify the disorder based on how often attacks occur and whether a patient experiences an aura, which refers to visual or sensory disturbances preceding the headache. This symptom-based approach, outlined in the International Classification of Headache Disorders, often fails to predict which treatments will work best for individual patients.
The biological differences between people with migraines remain largely unmapped. Researchers suspect that categorizing patients based on brain biology, rather than just symptom frequency, might eventually improve treatment strategies. Stanford University researchers Jaiashre Sridhar and Danielle D. DeSouza led a team to investigate whether patterns in brain imaging could identify hidden biological subgroups.
To do this, the research team used two types of magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI. Structural MRI measures the physical dimensions of the brain, such as the volume and thickness of the outer layer known as the cerebral cortex, as well as deeper subcortical structures. Functional MRI tracks blood flow to observe how different brain regions communicate when a person is at rest, a metric called functional connectivity.
The researchers first analyzed combined structural and functional brain scan data from 111 individuals with migraines and 51 healthy controls. They used a mathematical algorithm to simplify the massive amount of data and group the patients based on shared biological patterns. This exploratory approach was designed to let the data dictate the groups rather than relying on prior clinical labels.
This combined analysis identified two biological subgroups with distinct brain profiles and clinical experiences. One group tended to be older, had lived with migraines longer, and reported higher levels of daily disability. This higher-burden group also experienced longer individual headache durations and lower confidence in their ability to manage pain.
In this higher-burden group, functional MRI scans showed elevated connectivity between deeper brain structures and cortical networks responsible for attention, movement, and visual processing. Structurally, these individuals also exhibited reduced brain volume across several cortical regions, including the frontal, parietal, and temporal lobes, compared with the other subgroup. Many of these heightened functional connections were also elevated relative to the healthy control group.
The second subgroup presented a milder biological profile. Their brain structure was largely preserved in comparison to the first group. Their functional connectivity patterns and brain volumes were not statistically significant when compared to the healthy control group.
After identifying the combined groups, the researchers conducted a secondary analysis using only the functional connectivity data. They applied the same mathematical grouping process to see how the patients would cluster based solely on how different brain regions communicate.
This functional-only model produced two subgroups that closely matched the groups found in the initial combined analysis. Patients with higher clinical burden again clustered together, exhibiting similar patterns of elevated brain connectivity. When grouped this way, the resulting clusters did not display any differences in brain structure, indicating that functional connectivity drove most of the initial subgroupings.
Next, the team ran a third clustering model using exclusively structural MRI data. They grouped the same patients based entirely on the thickness and volume of their brain tissue.
This structural-only analysis generated two entirely different patient clusters that had almost no overlap with the groups formed by the combined or functional data. While these two new groups showed widespread differences in brain volume, they exhibited no differences in functional connectivity. This divergence indicates that structural variations represent a completely separate dimension of migraine biology than functional variations.
To verify the stability of their findings, the researchers performed a final sensitivity analysis. Instead of looking at broad functional networks, they repeated the combined analysis using a much more detailed map that divided the brain into over a hundred smaller, specific regions.
The results of this fine-grained analysis strongly mirrored the original combined model. Between 90 and 95 percent of the participants were assigned to the exact same subgroups as before. This consistency suggests that the biological groups are robust, regardless of the scale used to map the brain.
While these biological groupings provide a new perspective on migraines, the research relies on data collected at a single point in time. It is not possible to know whether prolonged migraines alter the brain over the years, or if these brain differences exist first and influence how the condition develops. The clinical differences between the two subgroups were also relatively subtle, and the groups did not align with traditional categories like chronic or episodic migraine.
The researchers noted that this was a modestly sized study, meaning the results will need to be verified in larger populations. The study also did not track the exact phase of the patients’ migraine cycle during the brain scans, such as whether they were actively having a migraine or in a resting phase. Additionally, the researchers did not account for all preventive medications the participants might have been taking at the time.
Future research will need to track larger groups of patients over extended periods to see how these biological profiles evolve and whether they can eventually guide medical care.
The study, “Neuroimaging-based subtyping of migraine identifies clinically distinct phenotypes,” was authored by Jaiashre Sridhar, Mahsa Babaei, Bharati M. Sanjanwala, Robert P. Cowan, and Danielle D. DeSouza.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-scans-reveal-two-distinct-biological-profiles-of-migraine/
-------------------------------------------------
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Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #MigraineBiology #Neuroimaging #BrainConnectivity #StructuralFunctionalMRI #MigraineSubtypes #CephalalgiaStudy #BrainNetworks #PersonalizedMedicine #NeurologyResearch #MigrainePhenotypes
-
DATE: August 17, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Brain scans reveal two distinct biological profiles of migraine
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-scans-reveal-two-distinct-biological-profiles-of-migraine/
A recent analysis of brain scans has revealed that people who experience migraines can be grouped into two distinct biological categories. These categories are based on how the brain is wired and physically structured, offering a new way to understand the disorder beyond traditional symptom checklists. The findings were published in the journal Cephalalgia.
Migraine is a neurological condition that causes severe head pain, sensitivity to light, and other debilitating symptoms. Doctors currently classify the disorder based on how often attacks occur and whether a patient experiences an aura, which refers to visual or sensory disturbances preceding the headache. This symptom-based approach, outlined in the International Classification of Headache Disorders, often fails to predict which treatments will work best for individual patients.
The biological differences between people with migraines remain largely unmapped. Researchers suspect that categorizing patients based on brain biology, rather than just symptom frequency, might eventually improve treatment strategies. Stanford University researchers Jaiashre Sridhar and Danielle D. DeSouza led a team to investigate whether patterns in brain imaging could identify hidden biological subgroups.
To do this, the research team used two types of magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI. Structural MRI measures the physical dimensions of the brain, such as the volume and thickness of the outer layer known as the cerebral cortex, as well as deeper subcortical structures. Functional MRI tracks blood flow to observe how different brain regions communicate when a person is at rest, a metric called functional connectivity.
The researchers first analyzed combined structural and functional brain scan data from 111 individuals with migraines and 51 healthy controls. They used a mathematical algorithm to simplify the massive amount of data and group the patients based on shared biological patterns. This exploratory approach was designed to let the data dictate the groups rather than relying on prior clinical labels.
This combined analysis identified two biological subgroups with distinct brain profiles and clinical experiences. One group tended to be older, had lived with migraines longer, and reported higher levels of daily disability. This higher-burden group also experienced longer individual headache durations and lower confidence in their ability to manage pain.
In this higher-burden group, functional MRI scans showed elevated connectivity between deeper brain structures and cortical networks responsible for attention, movement, and visual processing. Structurally, these individuals also exhibited reduced brain volume across several cortical regions, including the frontal, parietal, and temporal lobes, compared with the other subgroup. Many of these heightened functional connections were also elevated relative to the healthy control group.
The second subgroup presented a milder biological profile. Their brain structure was largely preserved in comparison to the first group. Their functional connectivity patterns and brain volumes were not statistically significant when compared to the healthy control group.
After identifying the combined groups, the researchers conducted a secondary analysis using only the functional connectivity data. They applied the same mathematical grouping process to see how the patients would cluster based solely on how different brain regions communicate.
This functional-only model produced two subgroups that closely matched the groups found in the initial combined analysis. Patients with higher clinical burden again clustered together, exhibiting similar patterns of elevated brain connectivity. When grouped this way, the resulting clusters did not display any differences in brain structure, indicating that functional connectivity drove most of the initial subgroupings.
Next, the team ran a third clustering model using exclusively structural MRI data. They grouped the same patients based entirely on the thickness and volume of their brain tissue.
This structural-only analysis generated two entirely different patient clusters that had almost no overlap with the groups formed by the combined or functional data. While these two new groups showed widespread differences in brain volume, they exhibited no differences in functional connectivity. This divergence indicates that structural variations represent a completely separate dimension of migraine biology than functional variations.
To verify the stability of their findings, the researchers performed a final sensitivity analysis. Instead of looking at broad functional networks, they repeated the combined analysis using a much more detailed map that divided the brain into over a hundred smaller, specific regions.
The results of this fine-grained analysis strongly mirrored the original combined model. Between 90 and 95 percent of the participants were assigned to the exact same subgroups as before. This consistency suggests that the biological groups are robust, regardless of the scale used to map the brain.
While these biological groupings provide a new perspective on migraines, the research relies on data collected at a single point in time. It is not possible to know whether prolonged migraines alter the brain over the years, or if these brain differences exist first and influence how the condition develops. The clinical differences between the two subgroups were also relatively subtle, and the groups did not align with traditional categories like chronic or episodic migraine.
The researchers noted that this was a modestly sized study, meaning the results will need to be verified in larger populations. The study also did not track the exact phase of the patients’ migraine cycle during the brain scans, such as whether they were actively having a migraine or in a resting phase. Additionally, the researchers did not account for all preventive medications the participants might have been taking at the time.
Future research will need to track larger groups of patients over extended periods to see how these biological profiles evolve and whether they can eventually guide medical care.
The study, “Neuroimaging-based subtyping of migraine identifies clinically distinct phenotypes,” was authored by Jaiashre Sridhar, Mahsa Babaei, Bharati M. Sanjanwala, Robert P. Cowan, and Danielle D. DeSouza.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-scans-reveal-two-distinct-biological-profiles-of-migraine/
-------------------------------------------------
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-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #MigraineBiology #Neuroimaging #BrainConnectivity #StructuralFunctionalMRI #MigraineSubtypes #CephalalgiaStudy #BrainNetworks #PersonalizedMedicine #NeurologyResearch #MigrainePhenotypes
-
DATE: August 5, 2026 at 09:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Miniature brain models reveal varied electrical activity in different types of autism
Researchers have grown miniature, three-dimensional brain models from the cells of autistic and nonautistic individuals to study how their neural networks communicate. The models demonstrated that different types of autism spectrum disorder produce vastly different patterns of electrical activity, highlighting the wide biological variety underlying the condition. The small study was published in the journal Translational Psychiatry.
Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental condition involving differences in social communication and repetitive behaviors. The biological roots of the condition remain difficult to map out. While many cases have no known genetic cause, a portion of autistic individuals have what is known as syndromic autism. This form of the condition is linked to specific single-gene mutations that alter how brain cells develop and communicate.
Because traditional animal models often fail to accurately reflect the specific features of human brain development, researchers have increasingly turned to brain organoids. These are tiny, self-organizing bundles of tissue grown from human stem cells. Brain organoids replicate the early stages of human brain development while retaining the exact genetic code of the person who provided the original cells.
Lead researchers Nisim Perets and Liya Kerem, along with a team of colleagues at Itay and Beyond and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, wanted to see if organoids could reveal the functional differences between various forms of autism. They focused on comparing the baseline electrical activity and network connections among several distinct genetic subtypes of the disorder. Extrapolating how a single mutated gene alters whole-brain activity is challenging in living humans, making these laboratory-grown models highly useful for observing live neural networks in action.
The researchers collected urine samples from fifteen human participants. Four participants were neurotypical, serving as a control group. Ten participants had syndromic autism stemming from five different genetic mutations, including the genes SHANK3, SCN2A, STXBP1, PPP2R5D, and GRIN2B. One participant had idiopathic autism, meaning their condition had no identified genetic origin.
Using epithelial cells extracted from the urine, the team reprogrammed the cells back into a basic stem cell state. They then placed these induced pluripotent stem cells into special nutrient baths, guiding them to grow into more than four hundred brain organoids. To ensure the models were developing correctly, the researchers analyzed the cells using genetic sequencing and fluorescent imaging. This confirmed that the organoids contained the right mix of brain cells, including neural progenitors, developing neurons, and mature cortical cells.
After growing the organoids for about two months, the researchers placed them onto special plates equipped with microscopic electrodes. These multi-electrode arrays allowed the team to record the spontaneous electrical signals passing between the neurons. The researchers tracked metrics like the firing rate, the size of the electrical spikes, and the frequency of synchronized bursts across the neural network.
The resting electrical activity in the autism models differed substantially from the neurotypical control models. The organoids derived from the participant with idiopathic autism exhibited a generally hypoactive profile. They showed lower firing rates, weaker signal strengths, and fewer bursts of activity compared to the control group.
Conversely, organoids derived from most of the syndromic autism subtypes showed higher firing rates than the control group. Organoids from participants with SCN2A mutations had varying firing rates but consistently produced weaker electrical signal strengths. This initial observation confirmed that genetic differences lead to physical differences in how brain cells spontaneously fire.
Next, the research team tested how the neural networks responded to new stimuli, a process known as short-term synaptic plasticity. In a living brain, neural networks adapt to incoming information by temporarily adjusting their sensitivity. They might dampen their activity, known as short-term depression, or temporarily boost it, known as short-term potentiation. The researchers delivered brief electrical pulses to the organoids and recorded the changes in activity over the following five minutes.
The high-frequency stimulation mostly caused the networks to dampen their activity. However, organoids from patients with STXBP1, SHANK3, and SCN2A mutations displayed abnormally high levels of short-term depression and reduced potentiation compared to the control group. Organoids with GRIN2B mutations showed the opposite trend, with slightly elevated potentiation and reduced depression. These varied responses suggest that different genetic mutations disrupt the brain’s ability to adapt to incoming signals in entirely different ways.
The researchers also mapped the functional connectivity of the networks before and after the stimulation. In response to the electrical pulses, the neurotypical organoids displayed a stable, predictable decrease in network connectivity. Organoids from the autism groups displayed highly erratic responses.
The neural networks in organoids with a STXBP1 gene mutation collapsed almost immediately after stimulation, failing to recover normally. Models with a PPP2R5D mutation experienced a sharp, sudden drop in connectivity. Models with GRIN2B mutations showed an inconsistent, fluctuating response across the entire observation period. The organoids representing idiopathic autism barely changed at all, showing a rigidity not seen in the control group.
To visualize these vast differences, the researchers mapped eighteen separate electrical characteristics onto a three-dimensional graph using a mathematical technique called principal component analysis. Organoids grown from the same person behaved similarly, and the entire neurotypical control group clustered tightly together. The organoids from the autistic participants scattered widely across the graph.
Even organoids grown from patients sharing the exact same genetic mutation sometimes displayed different patterns of electrical activity. One participant with a GRIN2B mutation had a clinical history of seizures, and their corresponding organoids exhibited abnormal rhythmic bursting. Another participant with the same GRIN2B mutation did not have a history of seizures, and their organoids did not display that specific bursting pattern.
While these three-dimensional models provide a window into early brain development, they do not replicate the full structural architecture of a mature human brain. The study also relied on a small sample size of fifteen patients, with only a single individual representing the idiopathic autism category. The association between specific electrical patterns in the organoids and clinical symptoms like seizures will require testing in larger patient cohorts to verify that the results were not statistically anomalous.
The researchers noted that tracking functional electrical differences in brain organoids could help classify different subtypes of autism based on brain circuitry rather than just behavioral observations. Because autism encompasses such a wide array of biological mechanisms, grouping patients by how their neural networks actually function might eventually guide the development of tailored therapeutic interventions.
The study, “Patient-derived brain organoids reveal divergent neuronal activity across subpopulations of autism spectrum disorder,” was authored by Nisim Perets, Liya Kerem, Nir Waiskopf, Noa Horesh, Itay Goldman, Jasmine Avichzer, Doron Bril, William Tobelaim, Milcah Barashi, Liat David, and Ariel Tenenbaum.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #AutismResearch #BrainOrganoids #NeuralActivity #AutismSubtypes #GeneticAutism #Neuroscience #SynapticPlasticity #BrainConnectivity #TranslationalPsychiatry #NeuralNetworks
-
DATE: August 5, 2026 at 09:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Miniature brain models reveal varied electrical activity in different types of autism
Researchers have grown miniature, three-dimensional brain models from the cells of autistic and nonautistic individuals to study how their neural networks communicate. The models demonstrated that different types of autism spectrum disorder produce vastly different patterns of electrical activity, highlighting the wide biological variety underlying the condition. The small study was published in the journal Translational Psychiatry.
Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental condition involving differences in social communication and repetitive behaviors. The biological roots of the condition remain difficult to map out. While many cases have no known genetic cause, a portion of autistic individuals have what is known as syndromic autism. This form of the condition is linked to specific single-gene mutations that alter how brain cells develop and communicate.
Because traditional animal models often fail to accurately reflect the specific features of human brain development, researchers have increasingly turned to brain organoids. These are tiny, self-organizing bundles of tissue grown from human stem cells. Brain organoids replicate the early stages of human brain development while retaining the exact genetic code of the person who provided the original cells.
Lead researchers Nisim Perets and Liya Kerem, along with a team of colleagues at Itay and Beyond and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, wanted to see if organoids could reveal the functional differences between various forms of autism. They focused on comparing the baseline electrical activity and network connections among several distinct genetic subtypes of the disorder. Extrapolating how a single mutated gene alters whole-brain activity is challenging in living humans, making these laboratory-grown models highly useful for observing live neural networks in action.
The researchers collected urine samples from fifteen human participants. Four participants were neurotypical, serving as a control group. Ten participants had syndromic autism stemming from five different genetic mutations, including the genes SHANK3, SCN2A, STXBP1, PPP2R5D, and GRIN2B. One participant had idiopathic autism, meaning their condition had no identified genetic origin.
Using epithelial cells extracted from the urine, the team reprogrammed the cells back into a basic stem cell state. They then placed these induced pluripotent stem cells into special nutrient baths, guiding them to grow into more than four hundred brain organoids. To ensure the models were developing correctly, the researchers analyzed the cells using genetic sequencing and fluorescent imaging. This confirmed that the organoids contained the right mix of brain cells, including neural progenitors, developing neurons, and mature cortical cells.
After growing the organoids for about two months, the researchers placed them onto special plates equipped with microscopic electrodes. These multi-electrode arrays allowed the team to record the spontaneous electrical signals passing between the neurons. The researchers tracked metrics like the firing rate, the size of the electrical spikes, and the frequency of synchronized bursts across the neural network.
The resting electrical activity in the autism models differed substantially from the neurotypical control models. The organoids derived from the participant with idiopathic autism exhibited a generally hypoactive profile. They showed lower firing rates, weaker signal strengths, and fewer bursts of activity compared to the control group.
Conversely, organoids derived from most of the syndromic autism subtypes showed higher firing rates than the control group. Organoids from participants with SCN2A mutations had varying firing rates but consistently produced weaker electrical signal strengths. This initial observation confirmed that genetic differences lead to physical differences in how brain cells spontaneously fire.
Next, the research team tested how the neural networks responded to new stimuli, a process known as short-term synaptic plasticity. In a living brain, neural networks adapt to incoming information by temporarily adjusting their sensitivity. They might dampen their activity, known as short-term depression, or temporarily boost it, known as short-term potentiation. The researchers delivered brief electrical pulses to the organoids and recorded the changes in activity over the following five minutes.
The high-frequency stimulation mostly caused the networks to dampen their activity. However, organoids from patients with STXBP1, SHANK3, and SCN2A mutations displayed abnormally high levels of short-term depression and reduced potentiation compared to the control group. Organoids with GRIN2B mutations showed the opposite trend, with slightly elevated potentiation and reduced depression. These varied responses suggest that different genetic mutations disrupt the brain’s ability to adapt to incoming signals in entirely different ways.
The researchers also mapped the functional connectivity of the networks before and after the stimulation. In response to the electrical pulses, the neurotypical organoids displayed a stable, predictable decrease in network connectivity. Organoids from the autism groups displayed highly erratic responses.
The neural networks in organoids with a STXBP1 gene mutation collapsed almost immediately after stimulation, failing to recover normally. Models with a PPP2R5D mutation experienced a sharp, sudden drop in connectivity. Models with GRIN2B mutations showed an inconsistent, fluctuating response across the entire observation period. The organoids representing idiopathic autism barely changed at all, showing a rigidity not seen in the control group.
To visualize these vast differences, the researchers mapped eighteen separate electrical characteristics onto a three-dimensional graph using a mathematical technique called principal component analysis. Organoids grown from the same person behaved similarly, and the entire neurotypical control group clustered tightly together. The organoids from the autistic participants scattered widely across the graph.
Even organoids grown from patients sharing the exact same genetic mutation sometimes displayed different patterns of electrical activity. One participant with a GRIN2B mutation had a clinical history of seizures, and their corresponding organoids exhibited abnormal rhythmic bursting. Another participant with the same GRIN2B mutation did not have a history of seizures, and their organoids did not display that specific bursting pattern.
While these three-dimensional models provide a window into early brain development, they do not replicate the full structural architecture of a mature human brain. The study also relied on a small sample size of fifteen patients, with only a single individual representing the idiopathic autism category. The association between specific electrical patterns in the organoids and clinical symptoms like seizures will require testing in larger patient cohorts to verify that the results were not statistically anomalous.
The researchers noted that tracking functional electrical differences in brain organoids could help classify different subtypes of autism based on brain circuitry rather than just behavioral observations. Because autism encompasses such a wide array of biological mechanisms, grouping patients by how their neural networks actually function might eventually guide the development of tailored therapeutic interventions.
The study, “Patient-derived brain organoids reveal divergent neuronal activity across subpopulations of autism spectrum disorder,” was authored by Nisim Perets, Liya Kerem, Nir Waiskopf, Noa Horesh, Itay Goldman, Jasmine Avichzer, Doron Bril, William Tobelaim, Milcah Barashi, Liat David, and Ariel Tenenbaum.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #AutismResearch #BrainOrganoids #NeuralActivity #AutismSubtypes #GeneticAutism #Neuroscience #SynapticPlasticity #BrainConnectivity #TranslationalPsychiatry #NeuralNetworks
-
DATE: August 5, 2026 at 09:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Miniature brain models reveal varied electrical activity in different types of autism
Researchers have grown miniature, three-dimensional brain models from the cells of autistic and nonautistic individuals to study how their neural networks communicate. The models demonstrated that different types of autism spectrum disorder produce vastly different patterns of electrical activity, highlighting the wide biological variety underlying the condition. The small study was published in the journal Translational Psychiatry.
Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental condition involving differences in social communication and repetitive behaviors. The biological roots of the condition remain difficult to map out. While many cases have no known genetic cause, a portion of autistic individuals have what is known as syndromic autism. This form of the condition is linked to specific single-gene mutations that alter how brain cells develop and communicate.
Because traditional animal models often fail to accurately reflect the specific features of human brain development, researchers have increasingly turned to brain organoids. These are tiny, self-organizing bundles of tissue grown from human stem cells. Brain organoids replicate the early stages of human brain development while retaining the exact genetic code of the person who provided the original cells.
Lead researchers Nisim Perets and Liya Kerem, along with a team of colleagues at Itay and Beyond and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, wanted to see if organoids could reveal the functional differences between various forms of autism. They focused on comparing the baseline electrical activity and network connections among several distinct genetic subtypes of the disorder. Extrapolating how a single mutated gene alters whole-brain activity is challenging in living humans, making these laboratory-grown models highly useful for observing live neural networks in action.
The researchers collected urine samples from fifteen human participants. Four participants were neurotypical, serving as a control group. Ten participants had syndromic autism stemming from five different genetic mutations, including the genes SHANK3, SCN2A, STXBP1, PPP2R5D, and GRIN2B. One participant had idiopathic autism, meaning their condition had no identified genetic origin.
Using epithelial cells extracted from the urine, the team reprogrammed the cells back into a basic stem cell state. They then placed these induced pluripotent stem cells into special nutrient baths, guiding them to grow into more than four hundred brain organoids. To ensure the models were developing correctly, the researchers analyzed the cells using genetic sequencing and fluorescent imaging. This confirmed that the organoids contained the right mix of brain cells, including neural progenitors, developing neurons, and mature cortical cells.
After growing the organoids for about two months, the researchers placed them onto special plates equipped with microscopic electrodes. These multi-electrode arrays allowed the team to record the spontaneous electrical signals passing between the neurons. The researchers tracked metrics like the firing rate, the size of the electrical spikes, and the frequency of synchronized bursts across the neural network.
The resting electrical activity in the autism models differed substantially from the neurotypical control models. The organoids derived from the participant with idiopathic autism exhibited a generally hypoactive profile. They showed lower firing rates, weaker signal strengths, and fewer bursts of activity compared to the control group.
Conversely, organoids derived from most of the syndromic autism subtypes showed higher firing rates than the control group. Organoids from participants with SCN2A mutations had varying firing rates but consistently produced weaker electrical signal strengths. This initial observation confirmed that genetic differences lead to physical differences in how brain cells spontaneously fire.
Next, the research team tested how the neural networks responded to new stimuli, a process known as short-term synaptic plasticity. In a living brain, neural networks adapt to incoming information by temporarily adjusting their sensitivity. They might dampen their activity, known as short-term depression, or temporarily boost it, known as short-term potentiation. The researchers delivered brief electrical pulses to the organoids and recorded the changes in activity over the following five minutes.
The high-frequency stimulation mostly caused the networks to dampen their activity. However, organoids from patients with STXBP1, SHANK3, and SCN2A mutations displayed abnormally high levels of short-term depression and reduced potentiation compared to the control group. Organoids with GRIN2B mutations showed the opposite trend, with slightly elevated potentiation and reduced depression. These varied responses suggest that different genetic mutations disrupt the brain’s ability to adapt to incoming signals in entirely different ways.
The researchers also mapped the functional connectivity of the networks before and after the stimulation. In response to the electrical pulses, the neurotypical organoids displayed a stable, predictable decrease in network connectivity. Organoids from the autism groups displayed highly erratic responses.
The neural networks in organoids with a STXBP1 gene mutation collapsed almost immediately after stimulation, failing to recover normally. Models with a PPP2R5D mutation experienced a sharp, sudden drop in connectivity. Models with GRIN2B mutations showed an inconsistent, fluctuating response across the entire observation period. The organoids representing idiopathic autism barely changed at all, showing a rigidity not seen in the control group.
To visualize these vast differences, the researchers mapped eighteen separate electrical characteristics onto a three-dimensional graph using a mathematical technique called principal component analysis. Organoids grown from the same person behaved similarly, and the entire neurotypical control group clustered tightly together. The organoids from the autistic participants scattered widely across the graph.
Even organoids grown from patients sharing the exact same genetic mutation sometimes displayed different patterns of electrical activity. One participant with a GRIN2B mutation had a clinical history of seizures, and their corresponding organoids exhibited abnormal rhythmic bursting. Another participant with the same GRIN2B mutation did not have a history of seizures, and their organoids did not display that specific bursting pattern.
While these three-dimensional models provide a window into early brain development, they do not replicate the full structural architecture of a mature human brain. The study also relied on a small sample size of fifteen patients, with only a single individual representing the idiopathic autism category. The association between specific electrical patterns in the organoids and clinical symptoms like seizures will require testing in larger patient cohorts to verify that the results were not statistically anomalous.
The researchers noted that tracking functional electrical differences in brain organoids could help classify different subtypes of autism based on brain circuitry rather than just behavioral observations. Because autism encompasses such a wide array of biological mechanisms, grouping patients by how their neural networks actually function might eventually guide the development of tailored therapeutic interventions.
The study, “Patient-derived brain organoids reveal divergent neuronal activity across subpopulations of autism spectrum disorder,” was authored by Nisim Perets, Liya Kerem, Nir Waiskopf, Noa Horesh, Itay Goldman, Jasmine Avichzer, Doron Bril, William Tobelaim, Milcah Barashi, Liat David, and Ariel Tenenbaum.
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DATE: August 4, 2026 at 09:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Inflammation corresponds to altered brain wiring in borderline personality disorder
People with borderline personality disorder may experience higher levels of immune system inflammation that relate to structural differences in the brain’s wiring. A recent small study found that individuals with the condition showed reduced integrity in specific brain networks alongside elevated inflammatory markers. Understanding this biological relationship could offer new ways to view the physical mechanisms behind emotional dysregulation. The research was published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.
Borderline personality disorder is a psychiatric condition characterized by intense emotional instability, impulsivity, and difficulties in interpersonal relationships. Historically, psychological trauma was viewed as the primary origin of the condition. Researchers are increasingly investigating the underlying biological and neurological factors that might accompany these symptoms. The latest research looks beyond outward behavior to map the physical architecture of the central nervous system.
White matter is the brain’s internal communication network. It consists of long nerve fibers that connect different regions of the brain, allowing them to share information. Myelin, the protective coating around these fibers, acts like insulation on an electrical cable to keep neural signals moving efficiently. When the microscopic structure of white matter is altered, it can disrupt how different areas of the brain regulate emotions and process incoming information.
Simultaneously, researchers have observed that people with various psychiatric conditions often exhibit low-grade systemic inflammation. The immune system releases proteins called cytokines to signal inflammation throughout the body. There is growing interest in how these circulating inflammatory proteins might interact with the physical structure of the brain. Chronic immune activation is thought to influence how the brain develops and maintains its cellular architecture over time.
Piotr Podwalski, a researcher at Pomeranian Medical University in Poland, and his colleagues designed a study to explore these overlapping systems. They wanted to investigate whether people with borderline personality disorder showed measurable differences in white matter and immune markers compared to healthy individuals. They also sought to determine if higher levels of inflammation correspond to reduced white matter integrity in the patient group. Understanding these overlapping systems could eventually lead to new medical interventions that target the immune system to help manage psychological symptoms.
To conduct the small study, the research team recruited 40 women diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and 37 healthy women of similar ages. The researchers restricted the participant pool to females to reduce biological and clinical variations, as men and women often express symptoms of the disorder differently. The participants underwent clinical assessments and provided blood samples in the morning after fasting.
The researchers analyzed the blood samples for specific inflammatory biomarkers, including interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein. When the body encounters stress or infection, immune cells release interleukin-6, which then prompts the liver to produce C-reactive protein. Chronic elevation of these proteins indicates a persistent state of low-grade inflammation. This ongoing immune response can negatively impact healthy tissues, including the delicate architecture of the nervous system.
The researchers then used a specialized type of magnetic resonance imaging to scan the participants’ brains. This imaging technique tracks how water molecules diffuse through brain tissue. In an unrestricted environment, water molecules move randomly in all directions. Inside the brain’s white matter, water diffuses primarily along the length of the nerve fibers.
By tracking this directional movement, scientists can calculate a metric known as fractional anisotropy. Lower scores on this metric suggest that the microscopic organization of the nerve fibers has been disrupted or damaged. The researchers used this calculation to map out the integrity of major fiber bundles throughout the brain.
When comparing the two groups, the researchers initially found elevated levels of interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein in the participants with borderline personality disorder. The initial results indicated a heightened immune response in this clinical group. However, when the researchers adjusted their statistical models to account for body mass index and smoking habits, the differences in inflammation between the two groups were not statistically significant.
The brain imaging analysis revealed distinct structural differences regardless of lifestyle factors. The participants with borderline personality disorder displayed reduced white matter integrity in two specific pathways in the left hemisphere of the brain. These pathways are known as the superior longitudinal fasciculus and the superior thalamic radiation. Both of these neural pathways are highly active during complex cognitive tasks.
The superior longitudinal fasciculus is a long bundle of nerve fibers that connects the front of the brain to regions in the back. This specific pathway is heavily involved in language processing, memory, and the regulation of emotions. The superior thalamic radiation is another fiber bundle that links a deep brain relay center to the outer cortex. Disruptions in these pathways can impair the brain’s ability to filter sensory information and exert control over emotional responses.
The research team then combined the blood test data with the brain imaging results to look for specific relationships. They discovered an inverse correlation between the inflammatory markers and the structural integrity of the superior longitudinal fasciculus. Participants who had higher levels of circulating inflammation generally exhibited lower structural integrity in this specific brain network.
The research design relied on a single snapshot in time, which limits how the results can be interpreted. It is not possible to determine if elevated inflammation directly causes the observed alterations in brain structure. An alternative explanation is that structural brain differences and psychological distress trigger an inflammatory response in the body.
The study sample consisted entirely of women, meaning the results may not apply to men with borderline personality disorder. The two groups of participants also differed in their average body mass index, smoking habits, and years of education. While the researchers used statistical techniques to adjust for these variables, lifestyle factors are known to heavily influence both immune function and brain health over time.
Future investigations will need to track participants over several years to observe how inflammatory markers and brain structures change together. Tracking these biological measures across different developmental stages could map the sequence of events in the brain. Researchers may also incorporate more diverse groups of participants to see if these patterns hold true across the broader population.
The study, “Inflammatory biomarkers and white matter microstructure in borderline personality disorder: A cross-sectional study,” was authored by Piotr Podwalski, Bartosz Dawidowski, Kamil Lipiński, Łukasz Franczak, Patryk Wysocki, Marcin Jabłoński, Krzysztof Wietrzyński, Piotr Plichta, Ernest Tyburski, Łukasz Zwarzany, Andrea Amerio, Błażej Misiak, Wojciech Poncyljusz, and Jerzy Samochowiec.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #Inflammation #WhiteMatter #BrainConnectivity #Neuroimaging #Psychoneuroendocrinology #InflammatoryBiomarkers #IL6 #CRP #MentalHealthResearch
-
DATE: August 4, 2026 at 09:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Inflammation corresponds to altered brain wiring in borderline personality disorder
People with borderline personality disorder may experience higher levels of immune system inflammation that relate to structural differences in the brain’s wiring. A recent small study found that individuals with the condition showed reduced integrity in specific brain networks alongside elevated inflammatory markers. Understanding this biological relationship could offer new ways to view the physical mechanisms behind emotional dysregulation. The research was published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.
Borderline personality disorder is a psychiatric condition characterized by intense emotional instability, impulsivity, and difficulties in interpersonal relationships. Historically, psychological trauma was viewed as the primary origin of the condition. Researchers are increasingly investigating the underlying biological and neurological factors that might accompany these symptoms. The latest research looks beyond outward behavior to map the physical architecture of the central nervous system.
White matter is the brain’s internal communication network. It consists of long nerve fibers that connect different regions of the brain, allowing them to share information. Myelin, the protective coating around these fibers, acts like insulation on an electrical cable to keep neural signals moving efficiently. When the microscopic structure of white matter is altered, it can disrupt how different areas of the brain regulate emotions and process incoming information.
Simultaneously, researchers have observed that people with various psychiatric conditions often exhibit low-grade systemic inflammation. The immune system releases proteins called cytokines to signal inflammation throughout the body. There is growing interest in how these circulating inflammatory proteins might interact with the physical structure of the brain. Chronic immune activation is thought to influence how the brain develops and maintains its cellular architecture over time.
Piotr Podwalski, a researcher at Pomeranian Medical University in Poland, and his colleagues designed a study to explore these overlapping systems. They wanted to investigate whether people with borderline personality disorder showed measurable differences in white matter and immune markers compared to healthy individuals. They also sought to determine if higher levels of inflammation correspond to reduced white matter integrity in the patient group. Understanding these overlapping systems could eventually lead to new medical interventions that target the immune system to help manage psychological symptoms.
To conduct the small study, the research team recruited 40 women diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and 37 healthy women of similar ages. The researchers restricted the participant pool to females to reduce biological and clinical variations, as men and women often express symptoms of the disorder differently. The participants underwent clinical assessments and provided blood samples in the morning after fasting.
The researchers analyzed the blood samples for specific inflammatory biomarkers, including interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein. When the body encounters stress or infection, immune cells release interleukin-6, which then prompts the liver to produce C-reactive protein. Chronic elevation of these proteins indicates a persistent state of low-grade inflammation. This ongoing immune response can negatively impact healthy tissues, including the delicate architecture of the nervous system.
The researchers then used a specialized type of magnetic resonance imaging to scan the participants’ brains. This imaging technique tracks how water molecules diffuse through brain tissue. In an unrestricted environment, water molecules move randomly in all directions. Inside the brain’s white matter, water diffuses primarily along the length of the nerve fibers.
By tracking this directional movement, scientists can calculate a metric known as fractional anisotropy. Lower scores on this metric suggest that the microscopic organization of the nerve fibers has been disrupted or damaged. The researchers used this calculation to map out the integrity of major fiber bundles throughout the brain.
When comparing the two groups, the researchers initially found elevated levels of interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein in the participants with borderline personality disorder. The initial results indicated a heightened immune response in this clinical group. However, when the researchers adjusted their statistical models to account for body mass index and smoking habits, the differences in inflammation between the two groups were not statistically significant.
The brain imaging analysis revealed distinct structural differences regardless of lifestyle factors. The participants with borderline personality disorder displayed reduced white matter integrity in two specific pathways in the left hemisphere of the brain. These pathways are known as the superior longitudinal fasciculus and the superior thalamic radiation. Both of these neural pathways are highly active during complex cognitive tasks.
The superior longitudinal fasciculus is a long bundle of nerve fibers that connects the front of the brain to regions in the back. This specific pathway is heavily involved in language processing, memory, and the regulation of emotions. The superior thalamic radiation is another fiber bundle that links a deep brain relay center to the outer cortex. Disruptions in these pathways can impair the brain’s ability to filter sensory information and exert control over emotional responses.
The research team then combined the blood test data with the brain imaging results to look for specific relationships. They discovered an inverse correlation between the inflammatory markers and the structural integrity of the superior longitudinal fasciculus. Participants who had higher levels of circulating inflammation generally exhibited lower structural integrity in this specific brain network.
The research design relied on a single snapshot in time, which limits how the results can be interpreted. It is not possible to determine if elevated inflammation directly causes the observed alterations in brain structure. An alternative explanation is that structural brain differences and psychological distress trigger an inflammatory response in the body.
The study sample consisted entirely of women, meaning the results may not apply to men with borderline personality disorder. The two groups of participants also differed in their average body mass index, smoking habits, and years of education. While the researchers used statistical techniques to adjust for these variables, lifestyle factors are known to heavily influence both immune function and brain health over time.
Future investigations will need to track participants over several years to observe how inflammatory markers and brain structures change together. Tracking these biological measures across different developmental stages could map the sequence of events in the brain. Researchers may also incorporate more diverse groups of participants to see if these patterns hold true across the broader population.
The study, “Inflammatory biomarkers and white matter microstructure in borderline personality disorder: A cross-sectional study,” was authored by Piotr Podwalski, Bartosz Dawidowski, Kamil Lipiński, Łukasz Franczak, Patryk Wysocki, Marcin Jabłoński, Krzysztof Wietrzyński, Piotr Plichta, Ernest Tyburski, Łukasz Zwarzany, Andrea Amerio, Błażej Misiak, Wojciech Poncyljusz, and Jerzy Samochowiec.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #Inflammation #WhiteMatter #BrainConnectivity #Neuroimaging #Psychoneuroendocrinology #InflammatoryBiomarkers #IL6 #CRP #MentalHealthResearch
-
DATE: August 4, 2026 at 09:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Inflammation corresponds to altered brain wiring in borderline personality disorder
People with borderline personality disorder may experience higher levels of immune system inflammation that relate to structural differences in the brain’s wiring. A recent small study found that individuals with the condition showed reduced integrity in specific brain networks alongside elevated inflammatory markers. Understanding this biological relationship could offer new ways to view the physical mechanisms behind emotional dysregulation. The research was published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.
Borderline personality disorder is a psychiatric condition characterized by intense emotional instability, impulsivity, and difficulties in interpersonal relationships. Historically, psychological trauma was viewed as the primary origin of the condition. Researchers are increasingly investigating the underlying biological and neurological factors that might accompany these symptoms. The latest research looks beyond outward behavior to map the physical architecture of the central nervous system.
White matter is the brain’s internal communication network. It consists of long nerve fibers that connect different regions of the brain, allowing them to share information. Myelin, the protective coating around these fibers, acts like insulation on an electrical cable to keep neural signals moving efficiently. When the microscopic structure of white matter is altered, it can disrupt how different areas of the brain regulate emotions and process incoming information.
Simultaneously, researchers have observed that people with various psychiatric conditions often exhibit low-grade systemic inflammation. The immune system releases proteins called cytokines to signal inflammation throughout the body. There is growing interest in how these circulating inflammatory proteins might interact with the physical structure of the brain. Chronic immune activation is thought to influence how the brain develops and maintains its cellular architecture over time.
Piotr Podwalski, a researcher at Pomeranian Medical University in Poland, and his colleagues designed a study to explore these overlapping systems. They wanted to investigate whether people with borderline personality disorder showed measurable differences in white matter and immune markers compared to healthy individuals. They also sought to determine if higher levels of inflammation correspond to reduced white matter integrity in the patient group. Understanding these overlapping systems could eventually lead to new medical interventions that target the immune system to help manage psychological symptoms.
To conduct the small study, the research team recruited 40 women diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and 37 healthy women of similar ages. The researchers restricted the participant pool to females to reduce biological and clinical variations, as men and women often express symptoms of the disorder differently. The participants underwent clinical assessments and provided blood samples in the morning after fasting.
The researchers analyzed the blood samples for specific inflammatory biomarkers, including interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein. When the body encounters stress or infection, immune cells release interleukin-6, which then prompts the liver to produce C-reactive protein. Chronic elevation of these proteins indicates a persistent state of low-grade inflammation. This ongoing immune response can negatively impact healthy tissues, including the delicate architecture of the nervous system.
The researchers then used a specialized type of magnetic resonance imaging to scan the participants’ brains. This imaging technique tracks how water molecules diffuse through brain tissue. In an unrestricted environment, water molecules move randomly in all directions. Inside the brain’s white matter, water diffuses primarily along the length of the nerve fibers.
By tracking this directional movement, scientists can calculate a metric known as fractional anisotropy. Lower scores on this metric suggest that the microscopic organization of the nerve fibers has been disrupted or damaged. The researchers used this calculation to map out the integrity of major fiber bundles throughout the brain.
When comparing the two groups, the researchers initially found elevated levels of interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein in the participants with borderline personality disorder. The initial results indicated a heightened immune response in this clinical group. However, when the researchers adjusted their statistical models to account for body mass index and smoking habits, the differences in inflammation between the two groups were not statistically significant.
The brain imaging analysis revealed distinct structural differences regardless of lifestyle factors. The participants with borderline personality disorder displayed reduced white matter integrity in two specific pathways in the left hemisphere of the brain. These pathways are known as the superior longitudinal fasciculus and the superior thalamic radiation. Both of these neural pathways are highly active during complex cognitive tasks.
The superior longitudinal fasciculus is a long bundle of nerve fibers that connects the front of the brain to regions in the back. This specific pathway is heavily involved in language processing, memory, and the regulation of emotions. The superior thalamic radiation is another fiber bundle that links a deep brain relay center to the outer cortex. Disruptions in these pathways can impair the brain’s ability to filter sensory information and exert control over emotional responses.
The research team then combined the blood test data with the brain imaging results to look for specific relationships. They discovered an inverse correlation between the inflammatory markers and the structural integrity of the superior longitudinal fasciculus. Participants who had higher levels of circulating inflammation generally exhibited lower structural integrity in this specific brain network.
The research design relied on a single snapshot in time, which limits how the results can be interpreted. It is not possible to determine if elevated inflammation directly causes the observed alterations in brain structure. An alternative explanation is that structural brain differences and psychological distress trigger an inflammatory response in the body.
The study sample consisted entirely of women, meaning the results may not apply to men with borderline personality disorder. The two groups of participants also differed in their average body mass index, smoking habits, and years of education. While the researchers used statistical techniques to adjust for these variables, lifestyle factors are known to heavily influence both immune function and brain health over time.
Future investigations will need to track participants over several years to observe how inflammatory markers and brain structures change together. Tracking these biological measures across different developmental stages could map the sequence of events in the brain. Researchers may also incorporate more diverse groups of participants to see if these patterns hold true across the broader population.
The study, “Inflammatory biomarkers and white matter microstructure in borderline personality disorder: A cross-sectional study,” was authored by Piotr Podwalski, Bartosz Dawidowski, Kamil Lipiński, Łukasz Franczak, Patryk Wysocki, Marcin Jabłoński, Krzysztof Wietrzyński, Piotr Plichta, Ernest Tyburski, Łukasz Zwarzany, Andrea Amerio, Błażej Misiak, Wojciech Poncyljusz, and Jerzy Samochowiec.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #Inflammation #WhiteMatter #BrainConnectivity #Neuroimaging #Psychoneuroendocrinology #InflammatoryBiomarkers #IL6 #CRP #MentalHealthResearch
-
DATE: August 3, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Scientists discover new insights into how mindfulness practices shift the brain’s neural landscape
New research provides evidence that group-based mindfulness and compassion programs tend to alter specific patterns of brain activity and improve how people relate to themselves. Three new papers published in the journals Mindfulness, the Journal of Mood and Anxiety Disorders, and Scientific Reports detail how these therapeutic programs reduce internal criticism and foster a sense of connection with others. These changes correspond with physical shifts in how emotional and executive control centers in the brain communicate.
Many psychological therapies focus on modifying self-related traits, such as self-judgment, rumination, and an internal sense of isolation. Self-judgment involves adopting a harsh, critical view of one’s own perceived flaws. Rumination is the tendency to repetitively dwell on negative past experiences.
These mental habits are transdiagnostic, meaning they frequently appear across a wide range of distinct mental health conditions like depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. High levels of these traits are associated with poorer emotional recovery and a lower quality of life.
“My primary research area is psychological trauma, especially regarding developing and optimizing psychosocial intervention for trauma survivors,” said Diane Joss, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Center for Mindfulness and Compassion at the Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School. “Among trauma survivors, distorted self-referential processes (e.g., thinking or feeling negatively toward oneself) is the underlying factor impacting a wide range of psychological symptoms and interferes with therapy progress.”
To address this, scientists look at neural plasticity, which refers to the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new connections. This adaptability is essential for learning new habits and recovering from psychological distress.
“My prior research showed mindfulness meditation is very beneficial for childhood trauma survivors, with neural plasticity being observed at the hippocampus and amygdala that supported clinical improvements in depression and anxiety symptoms,” Joss said. “However, the mechanisms for how these therapeutic effects are achieved still need further investigation.”
In 2025, Joss and her colleagues published a study in the Journal of Mood and Anxiety Disorders testing whether a program specifically targeting self-compassion could aid patients with clinical anxiety or depression. The sample included 24 adults, the vast majority of whom had more than one psychological diagnosis. These participants completed an eight-week mindful self-compassion program that focused on cultivating inner warmth and coping with difficult emotions.
The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, to scan the participants’ resting brains before and after the intervention. They specifically looked at how a central brain hub called the posterior cingulate cortex communicated with other regions. This hub is heavily involved in wandering thoughts and self-referential mental processes.
Following the training, the participants reported a large absolute reduction in self-judgment, with a standardized effect size of -1.04 compared to their starting scores. They also reported a large absolute increase in self-compassion, characterized by an effect size of 1.20. Patients who scored above the median level for childhood trauma exposure experienced the greatest improvements in both areas.
The brain scans revealed that reduced self-judgment was associated with increased connectivity between the posterior cingulate cortex and frontal brain regions responsible for language and executive control. At the same time, this central hub showed reduced connectivity with the amygdala and hippocampus, which are core components of the brain’s fear circuitry. This pattern suggests that self-compassion training might help quiet the brain’s fear responses while strengthening cognitive regulation over self-critical inner speech.
Building on this neurobiological research, Joss wanted to explore similar brain changes in a broader population. In a paper authored by Joss and published in the journal Mindfulness, the researcher conducted a secondary analysis of a trial involving 64 healthy adults.
The participants were randomly assigned to one of two eight-week programs. Thirty-nine adults joined a mindfulness stress reduction group, which taught meditation techniques like breath awareness and body scanning. Twenty-five adults joined an active control group focused on general stress management education, such as learning about nutrition, time management, and sleep hygiene.
Joss analyzed two distinct pairs of mental traits: self-judgment versus self-kindness, and rumination versus self-reflection. Self-reflection differs from rumination in that it involves a more analytical, open approach to understanding one’s inner thoughts. Before and after the eight-week period, the participants completed psychological questionnaires and underwent fMRI scanning.
The scanner tracked blood flow to measure spontaneous neural activity, allowing the researcher to observe the brain’s natural baseline function without asking the participant to complete a cognitive task.
“I conducted this study by analyzing data from a longitudinal MRI study on the effects of meditation for several self-related traits, such as self-judgment and self-kindness, as well as rumination and reflection,” Joss told PsyPost. “Although this dataset was not from a population who experienced trauma, the generalizable knowledge on how meditation practices promotes neural plasticity related to self-related processes has fundamental value for informing future research and clinical development.”
Joss found that participants in the mindfulness group experienced improvements in all measured traits. They reported an absolute increase in self-kindness, with an effect size of 0.99, which represents a large magnitude of positive change relative to their baseline scores. They also reported reduced self-judgment with an effect size of -0.58, lowered rumination with an effect size of -0.41, and decreased self-reflection with an effect size of -0.41.
The control group did not have a statistically significant change in rumination or reflection. They did report a moderate increase in self-kindness, with an effect size of 0.52, and a reduction in self-judgment, with an effect size of -0.44. Statistical tests comparing the interaction between the group assignments and time showed that the overall differences between the two groups’ psychological outcomes were not statistically significant.
Next, the scientist looked at the brain scans to see how these psychological changes matched up with resting brain activity. In the mindfulness group, increased self-kindness was associated with higher spontaneous activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This brain region is heavily involved in executive functioning, which encompasses skills like planning, focus, and inhibiting impulsive thoughts.
Decreased rumination in the mindfulness group was linked to lowered activity in the temporoparietal junction. This area is associated with processing social information, empathy, and adopting the perspectives of others. Interestingly, a decrease in reflection was tied to higher activity in different parts of this exact same brain region.
The author proposes that mindfulness training provides evidence of a shifting neural landscape. This biological change tends to enable people to consciously override negative biases and relate to themselves with greater executive control.
“For people who have a tendency to think or feel negatively toward oneself (e.g., self-criticism, self-blame, self-doubt, low self-esteem), it can be helpful to try meditation practices for cultivating compassion toward yourself,” Joss said. “You can start by simply noticing the negative self-talk without judging yourself for having them, followed by giving yourself kind understanding and warm validation. Over time, the neural circuitry that supported the habitual patterns of being harsh toward yourself will be trained to shift toward a new mentality of self-compassion.”
Later in 2026, Joss and her colleagues published a third study in the journal Scientific Reports, exploring the social elements of psychological recovery. The authors analyzed data from 60 adults diagnosed with PTSD who participated in a 16-week online therapy program. The patients were randomly assigned to one of two group-based interventions.
Half of the participants underwent a therapy focused on resolving internal emotional conflicts through contemplative practices. This approach teaches patients to view internal conflicts as different parts of their personality and helps them apply compassion to those fragmented parts. The other half watched nature videos as a group and discussed how nature aids in stress reduction.
The researchers measured changes in the participants’ PTSD symptoms, their ability to regulate emotions, and their subjective sense of isolation. Both therapy formats resulted in improvements in PTSD symptoms, with statistical analysis showing the differences between the two interventions were not statistically significant.
A specific variance analysis revealed that an improved ability to regulate emotions accounted for about 13 to 17 percent of the symptom reduction. A reduced sense of isolation explained roughly 9 to 10 percent of the improvement across both groups.
Using a statistical method called path analysis, the researchers mapped out the likely sequence of psychological changes. They found that participating in either group reduced the patients’ sense of isolation. This reduction in feeling alone was linked to lower self-judgment and better emotion regulation, which in turn predicted a drop in PTSD symptoms. The authors propose that simply being part of a supportive group environment helps normalize suffering and reduces feelings of alienation.
These findings rely heavily on self-reported questionnaires to measure internal traits like self-judgment and isolation. Self-reports tend to be influenced by social desirability, meaning participants might unconsciously answer in ways they feel are expected of them. Brain imaging data also requires cautious interpretation.
Observing that brain connectivity changes at the same time a psychological trait changes does not definitively prove that the neural shift caused the mental shift. Experimental designs using a single treatment group without a non-intervention control make it difficult to completely isolate the specific effects of the therapy from the mere passage of time.
Small sample sizes in some of these analyses limit how broadly the findings can be applied to the general population. The participants were predominantly highly educated and mostly identified as white and female. Future research will need to enroll larger, more diverse groups of people to verify these results.
Subsequent studies should also compare group therapy formats directly against one-on-one therapy. This comparison would help isolate exactly how much of a treatment’s success comes from social interaction versus the specific therapeutic curriculum.
The study, “Neural Correlates of Meditation‑Induced Changes in Self‑Related Traits: A Resting State fMRI Study,” was authored by Diane Joss.
The study, “Neural correlates of reduction in self-judgment after mindful self-compassion training: A pilot study with resting state fMRI,” was authored by Diane Joss, Michael Datko, Charisma I. Washington, Mary A. Tresvalles, Mihriye Mete, Sara W. Lazar, Zev Schuman-Olivier, and Elizabeth A. Hoge.
The study, “The role of reduced sense of isolation in group-format PTSD treatment,” was authored by Diane Joss, Alexandra Comeau, Hanna Soumerai Rea, Adhithi Rajan, Martha Sweezy, and Zev Schuman-Olivier.
-------------------------------------------------
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-
DATE: August 3, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Scientists discover new insights into how mindfulness practices shift the brain’s neural landscape
New research provides evidence that group-based mindfulness and compassion programs tend to alter specific patterns of brain activity and improve how people relate to themselves. Three new papers published in the journals Mindfulness, the Journal of Mood and Anxiety Disorders, and Scientific Reports detail how these therapeutic programs reduce internal criticism and foster a sense of connection with others. These changes correspond with physical shifts in how emotional and executive control centers in the brain communicate.
Many psychological therapies focus on modifying self-related traits, such as self-judgment, rumination, and an internal sense of isolation. Self-judgment involves adopting a harsh, critical view of one’s own perceived flaws. Rumination is the tendency to repetitively dwell on negative past experiences.
These mental habits are transdiagnostic, meaning they frequently appear across a wide range of distinct mental health conditions like depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. High levels of these traits are associated with poorer emotional recovery and a lower quality of life.
“My primary research area is psychological trauma, especially regarding developing and optimizing psychosocial intervention for trauma survivors,” said Diane Joss, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Center for Mindfulness and Compassion at the Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School. “Among trauma survivors, distorted self-referential processes (e.g., thinking or feeling negatively toward oneself) is the underlying factor impacting a wide range of psychological symptoms and interferes with therapy progress.”
To address this, scientists look at neural plasticity, which refers to the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new connections. This adaptability is essential for learning new habits and recovering from psychological distress.
“My prior research showed mindfulness meditation is very beneficial for childhood trauma survivors, with neural plasticity being observed at the hippocampus and amygdala that supported clinical improvements in depression and anxiety symptoms,” Joss said. “However, the mechanisms for how these therapeutic effects are achieved still need further investigation.”
In 2025, Joss and her colleagues published a study in the Journal of Mood and Anxiety Disorders testing whether a program specifically targeting self-compassion could aid patients with clinical anxiety or depression. The sample included 24 adults, the vast majority of whom had more than one psychological diagnosis. These participants completed an eight-week mindful self-compassion program that focused on cultivating inner warmth and coping with difficult emotions.
The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, to scan the participants’ resting brains before and after the intervention. They specifically looked at how a central brain hub called the posterior cingulate cortex communicated with other regions. This hub is heavily involved in wandering thoughts and self-referential mental processes.
Following the training, the participants reported a large absolute reduction in self-judgment, with a standardized effect size of -1.04 compared to their starting scores. They also reported a large absolute increase in self-compassion, characterized by an effect size of 1.20. Patients who scored above the median level for childhood trauma exposure experienced the greatest improvements in both areas.
The brain scans revealed that reduced self-judgment was associated with increased connectivity between the posterior cingulate cortex and frontal brain regions responsible for language and executive control. At the same time, this central hub showed reduced connectivity with the amygdala and hippocampus, which are core components of the brain’s fear circuitry. This pattern suggests that self-compassion training might help quiet the brain’s fear responses while strengthening cognitive regulation over self-critical inner speech.
Building on this neurobiological research, Joss wanted to explore similar brain changes in a broader population. In a paper authored by Joss and published in the journal Mindfulness, the researcher conducted a secondary analysis of a trial involving 64 healthy adults.
The participants were randomly assigned to one of two eight-week programs. Thirty-nine adults joined a mindfulness stress reduction group, which taught meditation techniques like breath awareness and body scanning. Twenty-five adults joined an active control group focused on general stress management education, such as learning about nutrition, time management, and sleep hygiene.
Joss analyzed two distinct pairs of mental traits: self-judgment versus self-kindness, and rumination versus self-reflection. Self-reflection differs from rumination in that it involves a more analytical, open approach to understanding one’s inner thoughts. Before and after the eight-week period, the participants completed psychological questionnaires and underwent fMRI scanning.
The scanner tracked blood flow to measure spontaneous neural activity, allowing the researcher to observe the brain’s natural baseline function without asking the participant to complete a cognitive task.
“I conducted this study by analyzing data from a longitudinal MRI study on the effects of meditation for several self-related traits, such as self-judgment and self-kindness, as well as rumination and reflection,” Joss told PsyPost. “Although this dataset was not from a population who experienced trauma, the generalizable knowledge on how meditation practices promotes neural plasticity related to self-related processes has fundamental value for informing future research and clinical development.”
Joss found that participants in the mindfulness group experienced improvements in all measured traits. They reported an absolute increase in self-kindness, with an effect size of 0.99, which represents a large magnitude of positive change relative to their baseline scores. They also reported reduced self-judgment with an effect size of -0.58, lowered rumination with an effect size of -0.41, and decreased self-reflection with an effect size of -0.41.
The control group did not have a statistically significant change in rumination or reflection. They did report a moderate increase in self-kindness, with an effect size of 0.52, and a reduction in self-judgment, with an effect size of -0.44. Statistical tests comparing the interaction between the group assignments and time showed that the overall differences between the two groups’ psychological outcomes were not statistically significant.
Next, the scientist looked at the brain scans to see how these psychological changes matched up with resting brain activity. In the mindfulness group, increased self-kindness was associated with higher spontaneous activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This brain region is heavily involved in executive functioning, which encompasses skills like planning, focus, and inhibiting impulsive thoughts.
Decreased rumination in the mindfulness group was linked to lowered activity in the temporoparietal junction. This area is associated with processing social information, empathy, and adopting the perspectives of others. Interestingly, a decrease in reflection was tied to higher activity in different parts of this exact same brain region.
The author proposes that mindfulness training provides evidence of a shifting neural landscape. This biological change tends to enable people to consciously override negative biases and relate to themselves with greater executive control.
“For people who have a tendency to think or feel negatively toward oneself (e.g., self-criticism, self-blame, self-doubt, low self-esteem), it can be helpful to try meditation practices for cultivating compassion toward yourself,” Joss said. “You can start by simply noticing the negative self-talk without judging yourself for having them, followed by giving yourself kind understanding and warm validation. Over time, the neural circuitry that supported the habitual patterns of being harsh toward yourself will be trained to shift toward a new mentality of self-compassion.”
Later in 2026, Joss and her colleagues published a third study in the journal Scientific Reports, exploring the social elements of psychological recovery. The authors analyzed data from 60 adults diagnosed with PTSD who participated in a 16-week online therapy program. The patients were randomly assigned to one of two group-based interventions.
Half of the participants underwent a therapy focused on resolving internal emotional conflicts through contemplative practices. This approach teaches patients to view internal conflicts as different parts of their personality and helps them apply compassion to those fragmented parts. The other half watched nature videos as a group and discussed how nature aids in stress reduction.
The researchers measured changes in the participants’ PTSD symptoms, their ability to regulate emotions, and their subjective sense of isolation. Both therapy formats resulted in improvements in PTSD symptoms, with statistical analysis showing the differences between the two interventions were not statistically significant.
A specific variance analysis revealed that an improved ability to regulate emotions accounted for about 13 to 17 percent of the symptom reduction. A reduced sense of isolation explained roughly 9 to 10 percent of the improvement across both groups.
Using a statistical method called path analysis, the researchers mapped out the likely sequence of psychological changes. They found that participating in either group reduced the patients’ sense of isolation. This reduction in feeling alone was linked to lower self-judgment and better emotion regulation, which in turn predicted a drop in PTSD symptoms. The authors propose that simply being part of a supportive group environment helps normalize suffering and reduces feelings of alienation.
These findings rely heavily on self-reported questionnaires to measure internal traits like self-judgment and isolation. Self-reports tend to be influenced by social desirability, meaning participants might unconsciously answer in ways they feel are expected of them. Brain imaging data also requires cautious interpretation.
Observing that brain connectivity changes at the same time a psychological trait changes does not definitively prove that the neural shift caused the mental shift. Experimental designs using a single treatment group without a non-intervention control make it difficult to completely isolate the specific effects of the therapy from the mere passage of time.
Small sample sizes in some of these analyses limit how broadly the findings can be applied to the general population. The participants were predominantly highly educated and mostly identified as white and female. Future research will need to enroll larger, more diverse groups of people to verify these results.
Subsequent studies should also compare group therapy formats directly against one-on-one therapy. This comparison would help isolate exactly how much of a treatment’s success comes from social interaction versus the specific therapeutic curriculum.
The study, “Neural Correlates of Meditation‑Induced Changes in Self‑Related Traits: A Resting State fMRI Study,” was authored by Diane Joss.
The study, “Neural correlates of reduction in self-judgment after mindful self-compassion training: A pilot study with resting state fMRI,” was authored by Diane Joss, Michael Datko, Charisma I. Washington, Mary A. Tresvalles, Mihriye Mete, Sara W. Lazar, Zev Schuman-Olivier, and Elizabeth A. Hoge.
The study, “The role of reduced sense of isolation in group-format PTSD treatment,” was authored by Diane Joss, Alexandra Comeau, Hanna Soumerai Rea, Adhithi Rajan, Martha Sweezy, and Zev Schuman-Olivier.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
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-
DATE: August 3, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Scientists discover new insights into how mindfulness practices shift the brain’s neural landscape
New research provides evidence that group-based mindfulness and compassion programs tend to alter specific patterns of brain activity and improve how people relate to themselves. Three new papers published in the journals Mindfulness, the Journal of Mood and Anxiety Disorders, and Scientific Reports detail how these therapeutic programs reduce internal criticism and foster a sense of connection with others. These changes correspond with physical shifts in how emotional and executive control centers in the brain communicate.
Many psychological therapies focus on modifying self-related traits, such as self-judgment, rumination, and an internal sense of isolation. Self-judgment involves adopting a harsh, critical view of one’s own perceived flaws. Rumination is the tendency to repetitively dwell on negative past experiences.
These mental habits are transdiagnostic, meaning they frequently appear across a wide range of distinct mental health conditions like depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. High levels of these traits are associated with poorer emotional recovery and a lower quality of life.
“My primary research area is psychological trauma, especially regarding developing and optimizing psychosocial intervention for trauma survivors,” said Diane Joss, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Center for Mindfulness and Compassion at the Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School. “Among trauma survivors, distorted self-referential processes (e.g., thinking or feeling negatively toward oneself) is the underlying factor impacting a wide range of psychological symptoms and interferes with therapy progress.”
To address this, scientists look at neural plasticity, which refers to the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new connections. This adaptability is essential for learning new habits and recovering from psychological distress.
“My prior research showed mindfulness meditation is very beneficial for childhood trauma survivors, with neural plasticity being observed at the hippocampus and amygdala that supported clinical improvements in depression and anxiety symptoms,” Joss said. “However, the mechanisms for how these therapeutic effects are achieved still need further investigation.”
In 2025, Joss and her colleagues published a study in the Journal of Mood and Anxiety Disorders testing whether a program specifically targeting self-compassion could aid patients with clinical anxiety or depression. The sample included 24 adults, the vast majority of whom had more than one psychological diagnosis. These participants completed an eight-week mindful self-compassion program that focused on cultivating inner warmth and coping with difficult emotions.
The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, to scan the participants’ resting brains before and after the intervention. They specifically looked at how a central brain hub called the posterior cingulate cortex communicated with other regions. This hub is heavily involved in wandering thoughts and self-referential mental processes.
Following the training, the participants reported a large absolute reduction in self-judgment, with a standardized effect size of -1.04 compared to their starting scores. They also reported a large absolute increase in self-compassion, characterized by an effect size of 1.20. Patients who scored above the median level for childhood trauma exposure experienced the greatest improvements in both areas.
The brain scans revealed that reduced self-judgment was associated with increased connectivity between the posterior cingulate cortex and frontal brain regions responsible for language and executive control. At the same time, this central hub showed reduced connectivity with the amygdala and hippocampus, which are core components of the brain’s fear circuitry. This pattern suggests that self-compassion training might help quiet the brain’s fear responses while strengthening cognitive regulation over self-critical inner speech.
Building on this neurobiological research, Joss wanted to explore similar brain changes in a broader population. In a paper authored by Joss and published in the journal Mindfulness, the researcher conducted a secondary analysis of a trial involving 64 healthy adults.
The participants were randomly assigned to one of two eight-week programs. Thirty-nine adults joined a mindfulness stress reduction group, which taught meditation techniques like breath awareness and body scanning. Twenty-five adults joined an active control group focused on general stress management education, such as learning about nutrition, time management, and sleep hygiene.
Joss analyzed two distinct pairs of mental traits: self-judgment versus self-kindness, and rumination versus self-reflection. Self-reflection differs from rumination in that it involves a more analytical, open approach to understanding one’s inner thoughts. Before and after the eight-week period, the participants completed psychological questionnaires and underwent fMRI scanning.
The scanner tracked blood flow to measure spontaneous neural activity, allowing the researcher to observe the brain’s natural baseline function without asking the participant to complete a cognitive task.
“I conducted this study by analyzing data from a longitudinal MRI study on the effects of meditation for several self-related traits, such as self-judgment and self-kindness, as well as rumination and reflection,” Joss told PsyPost. “Although this dataset was not from a population who experienced trauma, the generalizable knowledge on how meditation practices promotes neural plasticity related to self-related processes has fundamental value for informing future research and clinical development.”
Joss found that participants in the mindfulness group experienced improvements in all measured traits. They reported an absolute increase in self-kindness, with an effect size of 0.99, which represents a large magnitude of positive change relative to their baseline scores. They also reported reduced self-judgment with an effect size of -0.58, lowered rumination with an effect size of -0.41, and decreased self-reflection with an effect size of -0.41.
The control group did not have a statistically significant change in rumination or reflection. They did report a moderate increase in self-kindness, with an effect size of 0.52, and a reduction in self-judgment, with an effect size of -0.44. Statistical tests comparing the interaction between the group assignments and time showed that the overall differences between the two groups’ psychological outcomes were not statistically significant.
Next, the scientist looked at the brain scans to see how these psychological changes matched up with resting brain activity. In the mindfulness group, increased self-kindness was associated with higher spontaneous activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This brain region is heavily involved in executive functioning, which encompasses skills like planning, focus, and inhibiting impulsive thoughts.
Decreased rumination in the mindfulness group was linked to lowered activity in the temporoparietal junction. This area is associated with processing social information, empathy, and adopting the perspectives of others. Interestingly, a decrease in reflection was tied to higher activity in different parts of this exact same brain region.
The author proposes that mindfulness training provides evidence of a shifting neural landscape. This biological change tends to enable people to consciously override negative biases and relate to themselves with greater executive control.
“For people who have a tendency to think or feel negatively toward oneself (e.g., self-criticism, self-blame, self-doubt, low self-esteem), it can be helpful to try meditation practices for cultivating compassion toward yourself,” Joss said. “You can start by simply noticing the negative self-talk without judging yourself for having them, followed by giving yourself kind understanding and warm validation. Over time, the neural circuitry that supported the habitual patterns of being harsh toward yourself will be trained to shift toward a new mentality of self-compassion.”
Later in 2026, Joss and her colleagues published a third study in the journal Scientific Reports, exploring the social elements of psychological recovery. The authors analyzed data from 60 adults diagnosed with PTSD who participated in a 16-week online therapy program. The patients were randomly assigned to one of two group-based interventions.
Half of the participants underwent a therapy focused on resolving internal emotional conflicts through contemplative practices. This approach teaches patients to view internal conflicts as different parts of their personality and helps them apply compassion to those fragmented parts. The other half watched nature videos as a group and discussed how nature aids in stress reduction.
The researchers measured changes in the participants’ PTSD symptoms, their ability to regulate emotions, and their subjective sense of isolation. Both therapy formats resulted in improvements in PTSD symptoms, with statistical analysis showing the differences between the two interventions were not statistically significant.
A specific variance analysis revealed that an improved ability to regulate emotions accounted for about 13 to 17 percent of the symptom reduction. A reduced sense of isolation explained roughly 9 to 10 percent of the improvement across both groups.
Using a statistical method called path analysis, the researchers mapped out the likely sequence of psychological changes. They found that participating in either group reduced the patients’ sense of isolation. This reduction in feeling alone was linked to lower self-judgment and better emotion regulation, which in turn predicted a drop in PTSD symptoms. The authors propose that simply being part of a supportive group environment helps normalize suffering and reduces feelings of alienation.
These findings rely heavily on self-reported questionnaires to measure internal traits like self-judgment and isolation. Self-reports tend to be influenced by social desirability, meaning participants might unconsciously answer in ways they feel are expected of them. Brain imaging data also requires cautious interpretation.
Observing that brain connectivity changes at the same time a psychological trait changes does not definitively prove that the neural shift caused the mental shift. Experimental designs using a single treatment group without a non-intervention control make it difficult to completely isolate the specific effects of the therapy from the mere passage of time.
Small sample sizes in some of these analyses limit how broadly the findings can be applied to the general population. The participants were predominantly highly educated and mostly identified as white and female. Future research will need to enroll larger, more diverse groups of people to verify these results.
Subsequent studies should also compare group therapy formats directly against one-on-one therapy. This comparison would help isolate exactly how much of a treatment’s success comes from social interaction versus the specific therapeutic curriculum.
The study, “Neural Correlates of Meditation‑Induced Changes in Self‑Related Traits: A Resting State fMRI Study,” was authored by Diane Joss.
The study, “Neural correlates of reduction in self-judgment after mindful self-compassion training: A pilot study with resting state fMRI,” was authored by Diane Joss, Michael Datko, Charisma I. Washington, Mary A. Tresvalles, Mihriye Mete, Sara W. Lazar, Zev Schuman-Olivier, and Elizabeth A. Hoge.
The study, “The role of reduced sense of isolation in group-format PTSD treatment,” was authored by Diane Joss, Alexandra Comeau, Hanna Soumerai Rea, Adhithi Rajan, Martha Sweezy, and Zev Schuman-Olivier.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
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DATE: July 30, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Neuroscientists just upended a core assumption about how psychedelics alter brain function
Recent research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that psychedelic substances change how brain activity travels across the surface of the brain. The study provides evidence that drugs like LSD, psilocybin, and MDMA reliably reduce the flow of information traveling up into a core brain network associated with self-reflection. These findings offer a new biological explanation for both the therapeutic potential and the psychological risks of using psychedelics to treat mental health conditions.
The default mode network is a collection of interconnected brain regions that are highly active when a person is resting and thinking about themselves. Scientists link this network to introspection, daydreaming, and maintaining a rigid sense of self. In many mental health disorders, such as depression or schizophrenia, the default mode network tends to function abnormally. Because of this connection, researchers want to know exactly how potential psychiatric treatments impact this specific network.
“Psychedelic use is growing faster than our understanding of how these drugs impact the brain, particularly at the level of large-scale brain networks,” said Adam Pines, a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University, who led the study alongside the study’s senior author, Leanne M. Williams. “Clinically, these unresolved questions limit our ability to know which patients are likely to benefit from psychedelic treatments, and which are at risk of harm.”
Previous studies usually measured brain activity as if it were fixed in place. They looked at average activity in stationary regions over time instead of tracking how signals physically move across the brain tissue.
Brain activity constantly travels in specific directions, either from lower-level sensory areas up to higher-level thinking areas, or vice versa. The upward movement is called bottom-up processing, which involves reacting to basic sensory input. The downward movement is known as top-down processing, where the brain applies past experiences and expectations to interpret incoming information.
“Existing theories on how psychedelics work tend to disagree on a core point: whether psychedelics increase or decrease ‘bottom-up’ brain activity (activity moving from lower-order to higher-order brain areas),” Pines said. “From our perspective, this core premise had not been systematically tested.”
To test this premise, the researchers adapted an analytical method called optical flow. This technique is typically used in computer vision to track the movement of physical objects across video frames. By applying this technique to brain scans, the researchers could evaluate the directional flow of brain activity frame by frame, capturing the exact movement of signals across the cortical surface.
The researchers combined data from four independent studies to test how different psychedelics impact brain activity flow. “Drawing conclusive evidence from psychedelic studies is notoriously difficult,” Pines said. “We tried to establish our results beyond reasonable doubt by replicating our findings across nine different case-control comparisons, involving four datasets and two completely different neuroimaging technologies.”
The first three studies involved human participants who received a specific drug and underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging. This type of brain scan, often called fMRI, measures changes in blood flow to detect active brain areas. Before running their optical flow analysis, the authors masked out segments of data interrupted by head motion to ensure their measurements were highly accurate.
In the first study, fourteen healthy adult participants received either a placebo, eighty milligrams of MDMA, or one hundred and twenty milligrams of MDMA. MDMA is a synthetic substance that alters mood and perception. Participants completed multiple scanning sessions across different days, allowing researchers to compare their brain activity with and without the active drug.
The second study evaluated the effects of psilocybin, the active hallucinogenic compound found in magic mushrooms. Six healthy participants underwent numerous fMRI scans. During some sessions, they received twenty-five milligrams of psilocybin. On other days, they received either no drug or an active placebo called methylphenidate, a stimulant medication that mimics the physical arousal caused by psilocybin.
The third study focused on LSD, a powerful chemical that alters perception and thought. Eighteen healthy participants received an intravenous infusion of either LSD or a saline placebo. Following a short acclimatization period, they completed about one hour of fMRI scanning to capture their brain activity under the influence of the substance.
The fourth study involved an entirely different species and measurement technique. Fourteen mice were administered LSD, a sedative called diazepam, or another sedative called dexmedetomidine. Instead of using fMRI, the scientists measured the mouse brain activity using widefield calcium imaging. This technique uses fluorescent markers to directly observe the electrical activity of neurons across the brain surface, providing a different perspective on brain function.
Across all four datasets, the authors looked at two main features of brain signals moving within the default mode network. First, they calculated the magnitude, which is the total volume and strength of the traveling brain waves. Second, they measured directionality, specifically looking at the proportion of signals traveling in a bottom-up direction from sensory regions into the default mode network.
The researchers found that all the tested psychedelics significantly reduced the overall magnitude of cortical activity propagations in the default mode network. In the first study, MDMA lowered the strength of these traveling signals compared to both placebo and baseline scans. The exact same pattern appeared in the second study for psilocybin and the third study for LSD.
When observing the mice in the fourth study, the authors noticed a similar reduction in signal magnitude after administering LSD. The active sedatives given to the mice produced the opposite effect, increasing the magnitude of brain signal movement. This suggests that the reduction in traveling waves is a specific feature of psychedelics rather than a general effect of taking any psychoactive drug.
In addition to shrinking the magnitude of these signals, psychedelics altered the direction of their travel. The human studies showed that MDMA, psilocybin, and LSD all reduced the percentage of signals moving in a bottom-up direction. Instead of information flowing freely from sensory areas up into the default mode network, the overall balance of activity shifted away from bottom-up processing.
The mouse study replicated this directional shift, as LSD significantly decreased bottom-up propagations in the mouse brains. Interestingly, the psilocybin study showed that this attenuation of bottom-up directionality persisted for days after the initial dosage. Scans taken within two days of the psilocybin sessions still exhibited proportionately fewer bottom-up propagations.
The scientists also checked whether these movement changes were linked to the subjective psychological effects of the drugs. In the human studies, participants filled out comprehensive questionnaires about their experiences. The scientists found that greater reductions in bottom-up signaling correlated with more intense negative feelings, such as the dread of losing one’s sense of self and feelings of impaired control.
The results went against the original expectations of the research team. “How psychedelics impact large-scale brain function is not settled science,” Pines told PsyPost. “Our study challenges one of the field’s core assumptions. Many researchers, myself included, expected psychedelics to increase ‘bottom-up’ activity.”
Pines noted that the actual data told a different story. “Instead, we found the opposite,” Pines said. “However, like any study, there are caveats and limitations that come along with this new evidence.”
One prospective issue is the way the researchers interpreted the data at a broad level. “In our human data, we described a group-level effect rather than something that occurs 100% of the time for every individual every time they ingest psychedelics,” Pines said. “This is a standard practice for human neuroimaging studies, but it’s worth keeping in mind that the impact of psychedelics on individual people can be quite variable.”
The concept of bottom-up processing also comes with its own complexities. “Scientists still don’t fully understand what we call bottom-up activity, or the different ways it can occur,” Pines said. “Analytically, we only measured bottom-up activity in one way rather than comprehensively resolving all possible bottom-up activity in the brain.”
The researchers acknowledge that they had to narrow their focus to run the optical flow analyses. “While we had to be reductionistic to evaluate our questions of interest, there are undoubtedly more nuanced aspects of bottom-up and top-down activity that are yet to be discovered in psychedelic research and neuroscience broadly,” Pines said.
These brain wave changes might explain why psychedelics have specific therapeutic effects. For instance, ruminative depression involves excessive, automatic negative thoughts, which researchers link to an overabundance of bottom-up cortical propagations. By reducing these bottom-up signals, psychedelics might interrupt the automatic negative thought loops associated with depression.
A reduction in bottom-up processing could also pose risks for certain vulnerable populations. People at risk for psychosis already experience impaired bottom-up processing, often relying too heavily on top-down expectations, which can lead to hallucinations. Taking a psychedelic might exacerbate this existing imbalance, providing a biological explanation for why these drugs can trigger psychotic episodes in susceptible individuals.
The researchers plan to expand this analytical approach beyond psychedelics to other chemical compounds. “Our lack of understanding of large-scale brain function is not unique to psychedelic drugs,” Pines said. “Although decades of thorough research have revealed a lot about how alcohol, nicotine, and neurologically-active pharmaceuticals operate on individual neurons, our knowledge of how they impact large-scale brain function is quite limited.”
Applying this knowledge could eventually help doctors provide more personalized medical care. “If we can clarify the impacts of neurologically-active substances broadly, we can better anticipate the effects of any given therapeutic drug on individual psychiatric patients and tailor prescriptions accordingly,” Pines said. “This gives us more confidence in our findings, but doesn’t mean that the question is closed. Further study is still needed.”
The study, “Psychedelics disrupt hierarchical cortical propagations in the default mode network of humans and mice,” was authored by Adam R. Pines, Xue Zhang, John Kochalka, Sam S. Vesuna, Isaac V. Kauvar, Divya Rajasekharan, T. Rick Reneau, Teddy J. Akiki, Laura M. Hack, Joshua S. Siegel, and Leanne M. Williams.
-------------------------------------------------
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-
DATE: July 30, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Neuroscientists just upended a core assumption about how psychedelics alter brain function
Recent research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that psychedelic substances change how brain activity travels across the surface of the brain. The study provides evidence that drugs like LSD, psilocybin, and MDMA reliably reduce the flow of information traveling up into a core brain network associated with self-reflection. These findings offer a new biological explanation for both the therapeutic potential and the psychological risks of using psychedelics to treat mental health conditions.
The default mode network is a collection of interconnected brain regions that are highly active when a person is resting and thinking about themselves. Scientists link this network to introspection, daydreaming, and maintaining a rigid sense of self. In many mental health disorders, such as depression or schizophrenia, the default mode network tends to function abnormally. Because of this connection, researchers want to know exactly how potential psychiatric treatments impact this specific network.
“Psychedelic use is growing faster than our understanding of how these drugs impact the brain, particularly at the level of large-scale brain networks,” said Adam Pines, a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University, who led the study alongside the study’s senior author, Leanne M. Williams. “Clinically, these unresolved questions limit our ability to know which patients are likely to benefit from psychedelic treatments, and which are at risk of harm.”
Previous studies usually measured brain activity as if it were fixed in place. They looked at average activity in stationary regions over time instead of tracking how signals physically move across the brain tissue.
Brain activity constantly travels in specific directions, either from lower-level sensory areas up to higher-level thinking areas, or vice versa. The upward movement is called bottom-up processing, which involves reacting to basic sensory input. The downward movement is known as top-down processing, where the brain applies past experiences and expectations to interpret incoming information.
“Existing theories on how psychedelics work tend to disagree on a core point: whether psychedelics increase or decrease ‘bottom-up’ brain activity (activity moving from lower-order to higher-order brain areas),” Pines said. “From our perspective, this core premise had not been systematically tested.”
To test this premise, the researchers adapted an analytical method called optical flow. This technique is typically used in computer vision to track the movement of physical objects across video frames. By applying this technique to brain scans, the researchers could evaluate the directional flow of brain activity frame by frame, capturing the exact movement of signals across the cortical surface.
The researchers combined data from four independent studies to test how different psychedelics impact brain activity flow. “Drawing conclusive evidence from psychedelic studies is notoriously difficult,” Pines said. “We tried to establish our results beyond reasonable doubt by replicating our findings across nine different case-control comparisons, involving four datasets and two completely different neuroimaging technologies.”
The first three studies involved human participants who received a specific drug and underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging. This type of brain scan, often called fMRI, measures changes in blood flow to detect active brain areas. Before running their optical flow analysis, the authors masked out segments of data interrupted by head motion to ensure their measurements were highly accurate.
In the first study, fourteen healthy adult participants received either a placebo, eighty milligrams of MDMA, or one hundred and twenty milligrams of MDMA. MDMA is a synthetic substance that alters mood and perception. Participants completed multiple scanning sessions across different days, allowing researchers to compare their brain activity with and without the active drug.
The second study evaluated the effects of psilocybin, the active hallucinogenic compound found in magic mushrooms. Six healthy participants underwent numerous fMRI scans. During some sessions, they received twenty-five milligrams of psilocybin. On other days, they received either no drug or an active placebo called methylphenidate, a stimulant medication that mimics the physical arousal caused by psilocybin.
The third study focused on LSD, a powerful chemical that alters perception and thought. Eighteen healthy participants received an intravenous infusion of either LSD or a saline placebo. Following a short acclimatization period, they completed about one hour of fMRI scanning to capture their brain activity under the influence of the substance.
The fourth study involved an entirely different species and measurement technique. Fourteen mice were administered LSD, a sedative called diazepam, or another sedative called dexmedetomidine. Instead of using fMRI, the scientists measured the mouse brain activity using widefield calcium imaging. This technique uses fluorescent markers to directly observe the electrical activity of neurons across the brain surface, providing a different perspective on brain function.
Across all four datasets, the authors looked at two main features of brain signals moving within the default mode network. First, they calculated the magnitude, which is the total volume and strength of the traveling brain waves. Second, they measured directionality, specifically looking at the proportion of signals traveling in a bottom-up direction from sensory regions into the default mode network.
The researchers found that all the tested psychedelics significantly reduced the overall magnitude of cortical activity propagations in the default mode network. In the first study, MDMA lowered the strength of these traveling signals compared to both placebo and baseline scans. The exact same pattern appeared in the second study for psilocybin and the third study for LSD.
When observing the mice in the fourth study, the authors noticed a similar reduction in signal magnitude after administering LSD. The active sedatives given to the mice produced the opposite effect, increasing the magnitude of brain signal movement. This suggests that the reduction in traveling waves is a specific feature of psychedelics rather than a general effect of taking any psychoactive drug.
In addition to shrinking the magnitude of these signals, psychedelics altered the direction of their travel. The human studies showed that MDMA, psilocybin, and LSD all reduced the percentage of signals moving in a bottom-up direction. Instead of information flowing freely from sensory areas up into the default mode network, the overall balance of activity shifted away from bottom-up processing.
The mouse study replicated this directional shift, as LSD significantly decreased bottom-up propagations in the mouse brains. Interestingly, the psilocybin study showed that this attenuation of bottom-up directionality persisted for days after the initial dosage. Scans taken within two days of the psilocybin sessions still exhibited proportionately fewer bottom-up propagations.
The scientists also checked whether these movement changes were linked to the subjective psychological effects of the drugs. In the human studies, participants filled out comprehensive questionnaires about their experiences. The scientists found that greater reductions in bottom-up signaling correlated with more intense negative feelings, such as the dread of losing one’s sense of self and feelings of impaired control.
The results went against the original expectations of the research team. “How psychedelics impact large-scale brain function is not settled science,” Pines told PsyPost. “Our study challenges one of the field’s core assumptions. Many researchers, myself included, expected psychedelics to increase ‘bottom-up’ activity.”
Pines noted that the actual data told a different story. “Instead, we found the opposite,” Pines said. “However, like any study, there are caveats and limitations that come along with this new evidence.”
One prospective issue is the way the researchers interpreted the data at a broad level. “In our human data, we described a group-level effect rather than something that occurs 100% of the time for every individual every time they ingest psychedelics,” Pines said. “This is a standard practice for human neuroimaging studies, but it’s worth keeping in mind that the impact of psychedelics on individual people can be quite variable.”
The concept of bottom-up processing also comes with its own complexities. “Scientists still don’t fully understand what we call bottom-up activity, or the different ways it can occur,” Pines said. “Analytically, we only measured bottom-up activity in one way rather than comprehensively resolving all possible bottom-up activity in the brain.”
The researchers acknowledge that they had to narrow their focus to run the optical flow analyses. “While we had to be reductionistic to evaluate our questions of interest, there are undoubtedly more nuanced aspects of bottom-up and top-down activity that are yet to be discovered in psychedelic research and neuroscience broadly,” Pines said.
These brain wave changes might explain why psychedelics have specific therapeutic effects. For instance, ruminative depression involves excessive, automatic negative thoughts, which researchers link to an overabundance of bottom-up cortical propagations. By reducing these bottom-up signals, psychedelics might interrupt the automatic negative thought loops associated with depression.
A reduction in bottom-up processing could also pose risks for certain vulnerable populations. People at risk for psychosis already experience impaired bottom-up processing, often relying too heavily on top-down expectations, which can lead to hallucinations. Taking a psychedelic might exacerbate this existing imbalance, providing a biological explanation for why these drugs can trigger psychotic episodes in susceptible individuals.
The researchers plan to expand this analytical approach beyond psychedelics to other chemical compounds. “Our lack of understanding of large-scale brain function is not unique to psychedelic drugs,” Pines said. “Although decades of thorough research have revealed a lot about how alcohol, nicotine, and neurologically-active pharmaceuticals operate on individual neurons, our knowledge of how they impact large-scale brain function is quite limited.”
Applying this knowledge could eventually help doctors provide more personalized medical care. “If we can clarify the impacts of neurologically-active substances broadly, we can better anticipate the effects of any given therapeutic drug on individual psychiatric patients and tailor prescriptions accordingly,” Pines said. “This gives us more confidence in our findings, but doesn’t mean that the question is closed. Further study is still needed.”
The study, “Psychedelics disrupt hierarchical cortical propagations in the default mode network of humans and mice,” was authored by Adam R. Pines, Xue Zhang, John Kochalka, Sam S. Vesuna, Isaac V. Kauvar, Divya Rajasekharan, T. Rick Reneau, Teddy J. Akiki, Laura M. Hack, Joshua S. Siegel, and Leanne M. Williams.
-------------------------------------------------
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-------------------------------------------------
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-
DATE: July 30, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Neuroscientists just upended a core assumption about how psychedelics alter brain function
Recent research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that psychedelic substances change how brain activity travels across the surface of the brain. The study provides evidence that drugs like LSD, psilocybin, and MDMA reliably reduce the flow of information traveling up into a core brain network associated with self-reflection. These findings offer a new biological explanation for both the therapeutic potential and the psychological risks of using psychedelics to treat mental health conditions.
The default mode network is a collection of interconnected brain regions that are highly active when a person is resting and thinking about themselves. Scientists link this network to introspection, daydreaming, and maintaining a rigid sense of self. In many mental health disorders, such as depression or schizophrenia, the default mode network tends to function abnormally. Because of this connection, researchers want to know exactly how potential psychiatric treatments impact this specific network.
“Psychedelic use is growing faster than our understanding of how these drugs impact the brain, particularly at the level of large-scale brain networks,” said Adam Pines, a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University, who led the study alongside the study’s senior author, Leanne M. Williams. “Clinically, these unresolved questions limit our ability to know which patients are likely to benefit from psychedelic treatments, and which are at risk of harm.”
Previous studies usually measured brain activity as if it were fixed in place. They looked at average activity in stationary regions over time instead of tracking how signals physically move across the brain tissue.
Brain activity constantly travels in specific directions, either from lower-level sensory areas up to higher-level thinking areas, or vice versa. The upward movement is called bottom-up processing, which involves reacting to basic sensory input. The downward movement is known as top-down processing, where the brain applies past experiences and expectations to interpret incoming information.
“Existing theories on how psychedelics work tend to disagree on a core point: whether psychedelics increase or decrease ‘bottom-up’ brain activity (activity moving from lower-order to higher-order brain areas),” Pines said. “From our perspective, this core premise had not been systematically tested.”
To test this premise, the researchers adapted an analytical method called optical flow. This technique is typically used in computer vision to track the movement of physical objects across video frames. By applying this technique to brain scans, the researchers could evaluate the directional flow of brain activity frame by frame, capturing the exact movement of signals across the cortical surface.
The researchers combined data from four independent studies to test how different psychedelics impact brain activity flow. “Drawing conclusive evidence from psychedelic studies is notoriously difficult,” Pines said. “We tried to establish our results beyond reasonable doubt by replicating our findings across nine different case-control comparisons, involving four datasets and two completely different neuroimaging technologies.”
The first three studies involved human participants who received a specific drug and underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging. This type of brain scan, often called fMRI, measures changes in blood flow to detect active brain areas. Before running their optical flow analysis, the authors masked out segments of data interrupted by head motion to ensure their measurements were highly accurate.
In the first study, fourteen healthy adult participants received either a placebo, eighty milligrams of MDMA, or one hundred and twenty milligrams of MDMA. MDMA is a synthetic substance that alters mood and perception. Participants completed multiple scanning sessions across different days, allowing researchers to compare their brain activity with and without the active drug.
The second study evaluated the effects of psilocybin, the active hallucinogenic compound found in magic mushrooms. Six healthy participants underwent numerous fMRI scans. During some sessions, they received twenty-five milligrams of psilocybin. On other days, they received either no drug or an active placebo called methylphenidate, a stimulant medication that mimics the physical arousal caused by psilocybin.
The third study focused on LSD, a powerful chemical that alters perception and thought. Eighteen healthy participants received an intravenous infusion of either LSD or a saline placebo. Following a short acclimatization period, they completed about one hour of fMRI scanning to capture their brain activity under the influence of the substance.
The fourth study involved an entirely different species and measurement technique. Fourteen mice were administered LSD, a sedative called diazepam, or another sedative called dexmedetomidine. Instead of using fMRI, the scientists measured the mouse brain activity using widefield calcium imaging. This technique uses fluorescent markers to directly observe the electrical activity of neurons across the brain surface, providing a different perspective on brain function.
Across all four datasets, the authors looked at two main features of brain signals moving within the default mode network. First, they calculated the magnitude, which is the total volume and strength of the traveling brain waves. Second, they measured directionality, specifically looking at the proportion of signals traveling in a bottom-up direction from sensory regions into the default mode network.
The researchers found that all the tested psychedelics significantly reduced the overall magnitude of cortical activity propagations in the default mode network. In the first study, MDMA lowered the strength of these traveling signals compared to both placebo and baseline scans. The exact same pattern appeared in the second study for psilocybin and the third study for LSD.
When observing the mice in the fourth study, the authors noticed a similar reduction in signal magnitude after administering LSD. The active sedatives given to the mice produced the opposite effect, increasing the magnitude of brain signal movement. This suggests that the reduction in traveling waves is a specific feature of psychedelics rather than a general effect of taking any psychoactive drug.
In addition to shrinking the magnitude of these signals, psychedelics altered the direction of their travel. The human studies showed that MDMA, psilocybin, and LSD all reduced the percentage of signals moving in a bottom-up direction. Instead of information flowing freely from sensory areas up into the default mode network, the overall balance of activity shifted away from bottom-up processing.
The mouse study replicated this directional shift, as LSD significantly decreased bottom-up propagations in the mouse brains. Interestingly, the psilocybin study showed that this attenuation of bottom-up directionality persisted for days after the initial dosage. Scans taken within two days of the psilocybin sessions still exhibited proportionately fewer bottom-up propagations.
The scientists also checked whether these movement changes were linked to the subjective psychological effects of the drugs. In the human studies, participants filled out comprehensive questionnaires about their experiences. The scientists found that greater reductions in bottom-up signaling correlated with more intense negative feelings, such as the dread of losing one’s sense of self and feelings of impaired control.
The results went against the original expectations of the research team. “How psychedelics impact large-scale brain function is not settled science,” Pines told PsyPost. “Our study challenges one of the field’s core assumptions. Many researchers, myself included, expected psychedelics to increase ‘bottom-up’ activity.”
Pines noted that the actual data told a different story. “Instead, we found the opposite,” Pines said. “However, like any study, there are caveats and limitations that come along with this new evidence.”
One prospective issue is the way the researchers interpreted the data at a broad level. “In our human data, we described a group-level effect rather than something that occurs 100% of the time for every individual every time they ingest psychedelics,” Pines said. “This is a standard practice for human neuroimaging studies, but it’s worth keeping in mind that the impact of psychedelics on individual people can be quite variable.”
The concept of bottom-up processing also comes with its own complexities. “Scientists still don’t fully understand what we call bottom-up activity, or the different ways it can occur,” Pines said. “Analytically, we only measured bottom-up activity in one way rather than comprehensively resolving all possible bottom-up activity in the brain.”
The researchers acknowledge that they had to narrow their focus to run the optical flow analyses. “While we had to be reductionistic to evaluate our questions of interest, there are undoubtedly more nuanced aspects of bottom-up and top-down activity that are yet to be discovered in psychedelic research and neuroscience broadly,” Pines said.
These brain wave changes might explain why psychedelics have specific therapeutic effects. For instance, ruminative depression involves excessive, automatic negative thoughts, which researchers link to an overabundance of bottom-up cortical propagations. By reducing these bottom-up signals, psychedelics might interrupt the automatic negative thought loops associated with depression.
A reduction in bottom-up processing could also pose risks for certain vulnerable populations. People at risk for psychosis already experience impaired bottom-up processing, often relying too heavily on top-down expectations, which can lead to hallucinations. Taking a psychedelic might exacerbate this existing imbalance, providing a biological explanation for why these drugs can trigger psychotic episodes in susceptible individuals.
The researchers plan to expand this analytical approach beyond psychedelics to other chemical compounds. “Our lack of understanding of large-scale brain function is not unique to psychedelic drugs,” Pines said. “Although decades of thorough research have revealed a lot about how alcohol, nicotine, and neurologically-active pharmaceuticals operate on individual neurons, our knowledge of how they impact large-scale brain function is quite limited.”
Applying this knowledge could eventually help doctors provide more personalized medical care. “If we can clarify the impacts of neurologically-active substances broadly, we can better anticipate the effects of any given therapeutic drug on individual psychiatric patients and tailor prescriptions accordingly,” Pines said. “This gives us more confidence in our findings, but doesn’t mean that the question is closed. Further study is still needed.”
The study, “Psychedelics disrupt hierarchical cortical propagations in the default mode network of humans and mice,” was authored by Adam R. Pines, Xue Zhang, John Kochalka, Sam S. Vesuna, Isaac V. Kauvar, Divya Rajasekharan, T. Rick Reneau, Teddy J. Akiki, Laura M. Hack, Joshua S. Siegel, and Leanne M. Williams.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #PsychedelicsBrainScience #DefaultModeNetwork #BottomUpProcessing #PsychedelicsAndMentalHealth #MDMA #Psilocybin #LSD #NeuroscienceResearch #BrainConnectivity #OpticalFlowNeuroimaging
-
DATE: July 28, 2026 at 10:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Scientists identify three subtypes of cocaine addiction
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-maps-reveal-three-hidden-types-of-cocaine-addiction/
People with a diagnosed cocaine use disorder may fall into three distinct behavioral and neurological subtypes, a discovery that suggests personalized therapies could improve notoriously low recovery rates. Researchers identified these distinct profiles based on emotional regulation, cognitive control, and brain connectivity patterns. The study was published recently in Translational Psychiatry.
Current addiction treatments largely assume a one-size-fits-all model. Up to 85 percent of individuals treated for a cocaine use disorder return to using the drug long-term. Addiction researchers have proposed that the underlying mechanisms driving substance use typically fall into three broad behavioral categories. Some people turn to drugs for reward-seeking or sensation-seeking behaviors.
Others use substances to cope with high levels of negative emotions. A third group experiences deficits in executive function. Executive function involves the mental skills needed to control impulses, plan ahead, and make sound decisions.
University of Minnesota researchers Leyla R. Brucar, Gunner Drossel, and Anna Zilverstand, along with Eduardo A. Garza-Villarreal of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, wanted to map these underlying vulnerabilities. They suspected that previous failures in treating cocaine addiction might stem from a lack of personalized medical approaches. The team had previously identified three distinct functional subtypes in individuals recovering from alcohol and marijuana problems. To test if similar profiles existed in people who use cocaine, they organized a biological investigation utilizing behavioral tests and brain imaging.
The research team analyzed data from 109 participants between the ages of 22 and 39 living in Mexico City. Sixty-one of these individuals met the clinical criteria for an active cocaine use disorder. The remaining 48 participants were healthy individuals who served as a comparison group. These healthy control participants were matched to the drug-using group based on age, gender, and education levels.
Participants completed a lengthy series of clinical interviews, self-reported questionnaires, and behavioral tasks. These assessments evaluated their emotional states, their cognitive abilities, and their levels of impulsivity. The researchers then fed the results into a mathematical model designed to uncover hidden groups within multidimensional datasets. This mathematical tool sorts individuals based on shared psychological patterns across multiple variables.
Three distinct individual profiles emerged within the group of people who consume cocaine. About a third of the users fell into what the researchers labeled a “relief type.” These individuals exhibited high levels of negative emotions, including depression, anxiety, anger, and neuroticism. They also displayed higher rates of other mental health symptoms and personality disorders.
Another quarter of the participants fit the “cognitive type” profile. These individuals primarily struggled with executive function. They reported much higher levels of impulsivity across the board. Specifically, they showed a strong tendency to act on a whim without engaging in forward planning.
The remaining participants were grouped into an “undefined type.” Compared to the healthy control group, these individuals did not show obvious cognitive or emotional impairments on the tests provided. They actually demonstrated very low levels of antisocial behavior, indicating a generally high level of social functioning in their daily lives.
To see if these behavioral profiles matched actual physical differences in the brain, the researchers examined functional magnetic resonance imaging scans for the participants. They measured resting-state functional connectivity, which maps how different regions of the brain communicate with one another. This mapping is done while a person is awake but not focused on any specific task. By tracking blood flow to various brain regions over time, scientists can see which areas naturally exchange information.
Each behavioral subtype displayed unique brain connectivity patterns that corresponded with their psychological tests. In the relief type, brain regions associated with memory, emotion processing, and bodily awareness showed altered communication pathways. In the cognitive type, abnormal brain connectivity appeared in areas governing motor planning and visual processing. The cognitive group also showed altered connectivity in the frontoparietal network, a brain system heavily involved in cognitive control and decision making.
The undefined type also showed altered brain connectivity compared to healthy individuals. Their neural disruptions appeared in networks linked to motor planning, the brain’s baseline resting state, and regions associated with the internal reward circuitry. The researchers noted that these brain patterns looked somewhat similar to reward-seeking profiles found in other studies.
Despite their varied behavioral profiles, all three subtypes shared one common neural feature. Every individual with a cocaine use disorder exhibited altered brain connectivity in the salience network. This brain system is responsible for directing a person’s attention toward important stimuli in their environment. In addiction, this network often incorrectly flags drug-related cues as highly important, redirecting a person’s focus away from healthy activities.
None of the three groups differed regarding their actual cocaine habits. Individuals across all three subtypes began using the drug around the same age in their lives. They also consumed similar weekly doses and suffered from the same levels of addiction severity. The underlying psychological path to their substance use differed entirely, but the resulting behavioral severity looked identical from the outside.
A main limitation of the study is that the available psychological tests were heavily focused on negative emotions and cognitive control. The dataset lacked extensive measures for reward-seeking behavior. The researchers strongly suspect that the undefined type might actually represent a sensation-seeking group, but they could not confirm this without the proper behavioral testing questionnaire data.
Adding to the limitations, the number of participants providing brain imaging data was relatively modest for a neuroimaging experiment. Future research will need to replicate these findings in other groups of individuals. The scientists hope to investigate whether these brain and behavior profiles hold true across other demographic populations. They want to see if the underlying mechanisms remain consistent regardless of the primary drug of choice.
Establishing reliable screening tools for these subtypes could eventually lead to more personalized therapies in clinical settings. A person fitting the relief type might benefit from psychiatric medications that target anxiety, or therapies focused on emotional coping mechanisms. Treatment plans that fail to address this underlying emotional dysregulation might naturally fall short for these patients.
Conversely, an individual in the cognitive type group might experience better outcomes with therapies that train the brain to improve impulse control. They could benefit from experimental neuromodulation techniques aimed at improving the function of the prefrontal cortex. Recognizing these different biological entry points into addiction presents a tailored path toward medical recovery.
The study, “Subtypes of cocaine use disorder and their neurobehavioral profiles,” was authored by Leyla R. Brucar, Gunner Drossel, Eduardo A. Garza-Villarreal, and Anna Zilverstand.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-maps-reveal-three-hidden-types-of-cocaine-addiction/
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #CocaineAddictionSubtypes #NeurobehavioralProfiles #PersonalizedAddictionTreatment #ReliefType #CognitiveType #ExecutiveFunction #BrainConnectivity #SalienceNetwork #TranslationalPsychiatry #NeuroimagingInsights
-
DATE: July 28, 2026 at 10:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Scientists identify three subtypes of cocaine addiction
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-maps-reveal-three-hidden-types-of-cocaine-addiction/
People with a diagnosed cocaine use disorder may fall into three distinct behavioral and neurological subtypes, a discovery that suggests personalized therapies could improve notoriously low recovery rates. Researchers identified these distinct profiles based on emotional regulation, cognitive control, and brain connectivity patterns. The study was published recently in Translational Psychiatry.
Current addiction treatments largely assume a one-size-fits-all model. Up to 85 percent of individuals treated for a cocaine use disorder return to using the drug long-term. Addiction researchers have proposed that the underlying mechanisms driving substance use typically fall into three broad behavioral categories. Some people turn to drugs for reward-seeking or sensation-seeking behaviors.
Others use substances to cope with high levels of negative emotions. A third group experiences deficits in executive function. Executive function involves the mental skills needed to control impulses, plan ahead, and make sound decisions.
University of Minnesota researchers Leyla R. Brucar, Gunner Drossel, and Anna Zilverstand, along with Eduardo A. Garza-Villarreal of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, wanted to map these underlying vulnerabilities. They suspected that previous failures in treating cocaine addiction might stem from a lack of personalized medical approaches. The team had previously identified three distinct functional subtypes in individuals recovering from alcohol and marijuana problems. To test if similar profiles existed in people who use cocaine, they organized a biological investigation utilizing behavioral tests and brain imaging.
The research team analyzed data from 109 participants between the ages of 22 and 39 living in Mexico City. Sixty-one of these individuals met the clinical criteria for an active cocaine use disorder. The remaining 48 participants were healthy individuals who served as a comparison group. These healthy control participants were matched to the drug-using group based on age, gender, and education levels.
Participants completed a lengthy series of clinical interviews, self-reported questionnaires, and behavioral tasks. These assessments evaluated their emotional states, their cognitive abilities, and their levels of impulsivity. The researchers then fed the results into a mathematical model designed to uncover hidden groups within multidimensional datasets. This mathematical tool sorts individuals based on shared psychological patterns across multiple variables.
Three distinct individual profiles emerged within the group of people who consume cocaine. About a third of the users fell into what the researchers labeled a “relief type.” These individuals exhibited high levels of negative emotions, including depression, anxiety, anger, and neuroticism. They also displayed higher rates of other mental health symptoms and personality disorders.
Another quarter of the participants fit the “cognitive type” profile. These individuals primarily struggled with executive function. They reported much higher levels of impulsivity across the board. Specifically, they showed a strong tendency to act on a whim without engaging in forward planning.
The remaining participants were grouped into an “undefined type.” Compared to the healthy control group, these individuals did not show obvious cognitive or emotional impairments on the tests provided. They actually demonstrated very low levels of antisocial behavior, indicating a generally high level of social functioning in their daily lives.
To see if these behavioral profiles matched actual physical differences in the brain, the researchers examined functional magnetic resonance imaging scans for the participants. They measured resting-state functional connectivity, which maps how different regions of the brain communicate with one another. This mapping is done while a person is awake but not focused on any specific task. By tracking blood flow to various brain regions over time, scientists can see which areas naturally exchange information.
Each behavioral subtype displayed unique brain connectivity patterns that corresponded with their psychological tests. In the relief type, brain regions associated with memory, emotion processing, and bodily awareness showed altered communication pathways. In the cognitive type, abnormal brain connectivity appeared in areas governing motor planning and visual processing. The cognitive group also showed altered connectivity in the frontoparietal network, a brain system heavily involved in cognitive control and decision making.
The undefined type also showed altered brain connectivity compared to healthy individuals. Their neural disruptions appeared in networks linked to motor planning, the brain’s baseline resting state, and regions associated with the internal reward circuitry. The researchers noted that these brain patterns looked somewhat similar to reward-seeking profiles found in other studies.
Despite their varied behavioral profiles, all three subtypes shared one common neural feature. Every individual with a cocaine use disorder exhibited altered brain connectivity in the salience network. This brain system is responsible for directing a person’s attention toward important stimuli in their environment. In addiction, this network often incorrectly flags drug-related cues as highly important, redirecting a person’s focus away from healthy activities.
None of the three groups differed regarding their actual cocaine habits. Individuals across all three subtypes began using the drug around the same age in their lives. They also consumed similar weekly doses and suffered from the same levels of addiction severity. The underlying psychological path to their substance use differed entirely, but the resulting behavioral severity looked identical from the outside.
A main limitation of the study is that the available psychological tests were heavily focused on negative emotions and cognitive control. The dataset lacked extensive measures for reward-seeking behavior. The researchers strongly suspect that the undefined type might actually represent a sensation-seeking group, but they could not confirm this without the proper behavioral testing questionnaire data.
Adding to the limitations, the number of participants providing brain imaging data was relatively modest for a neuroimaging experiment. Future research will need to replicate these findings in other groups of individuals. The scientists hope to investigate whether these brain and behavior profiles hold true across other demographic populations. They want to see if the underlying mechanisms remain consistent regardless of the primary drug of choice.
Establishing reliable screening tools for these subtypes could eventually lead to more personalized therapies in clinical settings. A person fitting the relief type might benefit from psychiatric medications that target anxiety, or therapies focused on emotional coping mechanisms. Treatment plans that fail to address this underlying emotional dysregulation might naturally fall short for these patients.
Conversely, an individual in the cognitive type group might experience better outcomes with therapies that train the brain to improve impulse control. They could benefit from experimental neuromodulation techniques aimed at improving the function of the prefrontal cortex. Recognizing these different biological entry points into addiction presents a tailored path toward medical recovery.
The study, “Subtypes of cocaine use disorder and their neurobehavioral profiles,” was authored by Leyla R. Brucar, Gunner Drossel, Eduardo A. Garza-Villarreal, and Anna Zilverstand.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-maps-reveal-three-hidden-types-of-cocaine-addiction/
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #CocaineAddictionSubtypes #NeurobehavioralProfiles #PersonalizedAddictionTreatment #ReliefType #CognitiveType #ExecutiveFunction #BrainConnectivity #SalienceNetwork #TranslationalPsychiatry #NeuroimagingInsights
-
DATE: July 28, 2026 at 10:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Scientists identify three subtypes of cocaine addiction
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-maps-reveal-three-hidden-types-of-cocaine-addiction/
People with a diagnosed cocaine use disorder may fall into three distinct behavioral and neurological subtypes, a discovery that suggests personalized therapies could improve notoriously low recovery rates. Researchers identified these distinct profiles based on emotional regulation, cognitive control, and brain connectivity patterns. The study was published recently in Translational Psychiatry.
Current addiction treatments largely assume a one-size-fits-all model. Up to 85 percent of individuals treated for a cocaine use disorder return to using the drug long-term. Addiction researchers have proposed that the underlying mechanisms driving substance use typically fall into three broad behavioral categories. Some people turn to drugs for reward-seeking or sensation-seeking behaviors.
Others use substances to cope with high levels of negative emotions. A third group experiences deficits in executive function. Executive function involves the mental skills needed to control impulses, plan ahead, and make sound decisions.
University of Minnesota researchers Leyla R. Brucar, Gunner Drossel, and Anna Zilverstand, along with Eduardo A. Garza-Villarreal of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, wanted to map these underlying vulnerabilities. They suspected that previous failures in treating cocaine addiction might stem from a lack of personalized medical approaches. The team had previously identified three distinct functional subtypes in individuals recovering from alcohol and marijuana problems. To test if similar profiles existed in people who use cocaine, they organized a biological investigation utilizing behavioral tests and brain imaging.
The research team analyzed data from 109 participants between the ages of 22 and 39 living in Mexico City. Sixty-one of these individuals met the clinical criteria for an active cocaine use disorder. The remaining 48 participants were healthy individuals who served as a comparison group. These healthy control participants were matched to the drug-using group based on age, gender, and education levels.
Participants completed a lengthy series of clinical interviews, self-reported questionnaires, and behavioral tasks. These assessments evaluated their emotional states, their cognitive abilities, and their levels of impulsivity. The researchers then fed the results into a mathematical model designed to uncover hidden groups within multidimensional datasets. This mathematical tool sorts individuals based on shared psychological patterns across multiple variables.
Three distinct individual profiles emerged within the group of people who consume cocaine. About a third of the users fell into what the researchers labeled a “relief type.” These individuals exhibited high levels of negative emotions, including depression, anxiety, anger, and neuroticism. They also displayed higher rates of other mental health symptoms and personality disorders.
Another quarter of the participants fit the “cognitive type” profile. These individuals primarily struggled with executive function. They reported much higher levels of impulsivity across the board. Specifically, they showed a strong tendency to act on a whim without engaging in forward planning.
The remaining participants were grouped into an “undefined type.” Compared to the healthy control group, these individuals did not show obvious cognitive or emotional impairments on the tests provided. They actually demonstrated very low levels of antisocial behavior, indicating a generally high level of social functioning in their daily lives.
To see if these behavioral profiles matched actual physical differences in the brain, the researchers examined functional magnetic resonance imaging scans for the participants. They measured resting-state functional connectivity, which maps how different regions of the brain communicate with one another. This mapping is done while a person is awake but not focused on any specific task. By tracking blood flow to various brain regions over time, scientists can see which areas naturally exchange information.
Each behavioral subtype displayed unique brain connectivity patterns that corresponded with their psychological tests. In the relief type, brain regions associated with memory, emotion processing, and bodily awareness showed altered communication pathways. In the cognitive type, abnormal brain connectivity appeared in areas governing motor planning and visual processing. The cognitive group also showed altered connectivity in the frontoparietal network, a brain system heavily involved in cognitive control and decision making.
The undefined type also showed altered brain connectivity compared to healthy individuals. Their neural disruptions appeared in networks linked to motor planning, the brain’s baseline resting state, and regions associated with the internal reward circuitry. The researchers noted that these brain patterns looked somewhat similar to reward-seeking profiles found in other studies.
Despite their varied behavioral profiles, all three subtypes shared one common neural feature. Every individual with a cocaine use disorder exhibited altered brain connectivity in the salience network. This brain system is responsible for directing a person’s attention toward important stimuli in their environment. In addiction, this network often incorrectly flags drug-related cues as highly important, redirecting a person’s focus away from healthy activities.
None of the three groups differed regarding their actual cocaine habits. Individuals across all three subtypes began using the drug around the same age in their lives. They also consumed similar weekly doses and suffered from the same levels of addiction severity. The underlying psychological path to their substance use differed entirely, but the resulting behavioral severity looked identical from the outside.
A main limitation of the study is that the available psychological tests were heavily focused on negative emotions and cognitive control. The dataset lacked extensive measures for reward-seeking behavior. The researchers strongly suspect that the undefined type might actually represent a sensation-seeking group, but they could not confirm this without the proper behavioral testing questionnaire data.
Adding to the limitations, the number of participants providing brain imaging data was relatively modest for a neuroimaging experiment. Future research will need to replicate these findings in other groups of individuals. The scientists hope to investigate whether these brain and behavior profiles hold true across other demographic populations. They want to see if the underlying mechanisms remain consistent regardless of the primary drug of choice.
Establishing reliable screening tools for these subtypes could eventually lead to more personalized therapies in clinical settings. A person fitting the relief type might benefit from psychiatric medications that target anxiety, or therapies focused on emotional coping mechanisms. Treatment plans that fail to address this underlying emotional dysregulation might naturally fall short for these patients.
Conversely, an individual in the cognitive type group might experience better outcomes with therapies that train the brain to improve impulse control. They could benefit from experimental neuromodulation techniques aimed at improving the function of the prefrontal cortex. Recognizing these different biological entry points into addiction presents a tailored path toward medical recovery.
The study, “Subtypes of cocaine use disorder and their neurobehavioral profiles,” was authored by Leyla R. Brucar, Gunner Drossel, Eduardo A. Garza-Villarreal, and Anna Zilverstand.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-maps-reveal-three-hidden-types-of-cocaine-addiction/
-------------------------------------------------
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-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #CocaineAddictionSubtypes #NeurobehavioralProfiles #PersonalizedAddictionTreatment #ReliefType #CognitiveType #ExecutiveFunction #BrainConnectivity #SalienceNetwork #TranslationalPsychiatry #NeuroimagingInsights
-
DATE: July 26, 2026 at 12:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Scientists map the brain’s attention networks in children with ADHD
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-connectivity-for-attention-operates-on-a-unified-spectrum/
The brain systems that help children maintain focus seem to operate on a single shared spectrum, regardless of whether a child has an attention disorder. A large new study shows that the neurological markers of attention abilities do not differ between children with and without a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The research was published in the *Journal of Attention Disorders*.
Attention is not a simple all-or-nothing trait. People possess varying levels of what psychologists call inhibitory control of attention. This is the cognitive skill that allows someone to focus on a specific task or stimulus while tuning out background distractions.
Deficits in this specific type of attention are highly common in neurodevelopmental conditions like ADHD. Because these attention difficulties can impact academic performance and daily life, medical researchers want to understand the underlying brain physiology. This knowledge can help guide clinical therapies for those who struggle the most.
Traditionally, psychiatric research has relied heavily on categorical diagnostic groups. This approach assumes that people with a condition like ADHD are fundamentally distinct from people without it. This traditional method helps doctors communicate efficiently about treatments, but it can mask the immense variability that exists within any single diagnostic group.
By contrast, modern frameworks propose studying human behavior along a continuous spectrum. Under this model, cognitive abilities and deficits are viewed as traits that everyone possesses to varying degrees. The new findings lend strong support to this dimensional approach for investigating neurodevelopmental outcomes.
To explore this concept, scientists use a tool called functional magnetic resonance imaging. Commonly known as fMRI, this technology measures brain activity by detecting subtle changes associated with blood flow. When neurons become active, they require more oxygen, which is transported by the blood.
Specifically, scientists look at functional connectivity, which maps how different regions of the brain communicate and synchronize their resting activity. When multiple brain areas activate together in an organized way, they form intricate functional networks. These networks manage everything from processing visual information to governing complex behaviors.
Prior research has linked particular brain networks to attention skills, while separate lines of research have linked other networks to ADHD diagnoses. Yet it remained unknown if having an official ADHD diagnosis changes the fundamental relationship between a person’s attention skills and their brain connectivity. Answering this question helps psychologists determine the most effective ways to model cognitive disorders.
Kelsey Harkness, a researcher at the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute at the University of Calgary, led the new investigation to bridge this gap. Her team wanted to test if children with ADHD exist along the same continuum of brain and behavior associations as children without the diagnosis. They approached the investigation from a purely analytical standpoint to avoid past biases.
The researchers utilized information from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development database. This is a massive, long-term national project collecting neuroimaging and psychological data from children across the United States. The database aims to provide a highly representative sample of the nation’s youth for scientific inquiry.
For this large study, Harkness and her colleagues analyzed data from just over 7,000 children who were either nine or ten years old. Within this group, nearly 500 children had a current diagnosis of ADHD. The rest of the children served as a baseline control group.
To measure inhibitory control of attention, the subjects completed a standardized assessment called the Flanker task. During this test, children must identify the direction of a central arrow on a screen while ignoring surrounding arrows that point in either the same or opposite directions. The test determines a score based on both accuracy and reaction time.
The team also analyzed resting-state fMRI scans for all the children involved. Unlike traditional fMRI studies where subjects perform academic tasks while inside the scanner, resting-state scans observe the brain while a person is simply lying still and remaining awake. This allows the scanner to record the brain’s default communication patterns.
Task-based imaging can sometimes be complicated by how well or poorly a participant performs the required test while inside the machine. A child who is anxious about the loud, confined space of an MRI scanner might score poorly, skewing the functional connectivity data. Resting-state scans minimize this performance pressure, allowing scientists to identify the inherent communication routes within the nervous system.
The data analysis revealed independent patterns linking resting brain connectivity to both attention scores and diagnostic status. For instance, the children’s performance on the Flanker task correlated with connectivity in specific cortical circuits, such as the visual baseline networks. It also aligned with regions involved in sensory and motor processing, particularly those related to physical mouth or hand movements.
Separately, having an ADHD diagnosis was associated with connectivity patterns in entirely different brain regions. These connections primarily involved the ventral attention and auditory networks. These systems typically help the brain orient to unexpected sounds or new stimuli in the surrounding environment.
When the researchers compared the networks linked to attention scores with the networks linked to ADHD, they found no overlap. The brain connectivity differences associated with an ADHD diagnosis were completely distinct from the connectivity differences associated with basic attention skills. This divergence suggests that different behavioral traits depend on separate neurological pathways.
Most importantly, the team tested whether an ADHD diagnosis altered the relationship between a child’s attention score and their brain connectivity. The results of this specific test were not statistically significant.
This lack of an interaction means the neural wiring associated with inhibitory control looks essentially identical across both groups. A child with ADHD who scores poorly on the attention test has the same related brain connectivity as a neurotypical child who scores poorly.
The findings support the idea that attention abilities exist on a single, continuous spectrum for all children. It suggests that researchers can study fundamental cognitive traits across the entire population, rather than isolating individuals into rigid diagnostic categories. This framework aligns perfectly with transdiagnostic models of mental health.
The discovery that completely different brain networks relate to ADHD and attention also provides new insight into the disorder itself. It implies that the functional connectivity differences seen in children with ADHD might be driven by environmental factors or other symptoms. Diagnostic brain markers are likely influenced by a broad range of developmental variables beyond just the ability to tune out distractions.
Despite the large sample size, the researchers noted several limitations to their current analysis. The study only included children who were nine and ten years old, limiting the ability to generalize the results to younger children, teenagers, or adults.
Attention abilities and brain networks both develop and change rapidly as children grow. Certain networks become more robust during adolescence, while others scale back. Future developmental studies will need to track participants across different age ranges to see if this unified spectrum of attention stays consistent throughout the human lifespan.
The research team also relied on a single computer assessment, the Flanker task, to measure inhibitory control. Different types of attention tasks often engage slightly different brain networks. Using multiple assessments combined might yield a more rounded picture of childhood cognitive function in future projects.
Finally, the study calculated functional connectivity broadly across large, predefined cortical networks. This macro-level view prevented the researchers from examining the influence of smaller, deeper brain structures. Aggregating the data into twelve overarching networks simplifies the analysis but obscures fine-scale neurological mapping.
Deeper regions like the thalamus and striatum are known to play regulatory roles in attention. They are also frequent pharmacological targets for stimulant treatments prescribed to children with hyperactivity. Future investigations that look at the brain at a finer spatial scale could reveal additional details about the physiology of these conditions.
Ultimately, learning exactly how cognitive impairments relate to brain architecture can help medical professionals develop highly personalized interventions. By viewing attention as a continuum rather than a strictly binary trait, scientists hope to foster better long-term outcomes for all patients. Expanding on these transdiagnostic frameworks could redefine how developmental disorders are diagnosed and treated in the future.
The study, “The Relationship Between Inhibitory Control of Attention and fMRI Functional Connectivity in Children With and Without ADHD,” was authored by Kelsey Harkness, Matthias Wilms, Kate J. Godfrey, Signe Bray, and Kara Murias.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-connectivity-for-attention-operates-on-a-unified-spectrum/
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #ADHD #AttentionNetworks #fMRIFunctionalConnectivity #InhibitoryControl #Neurodevelopment #RestingStatefMRI #BrainConnectivity #Transdiagnostic #AttentionSpectrum #PediatricNeuroscience
-
DATE: July 26, 2026 at 12:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Scientists map the brain’s attention networks in children with ADHD
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-connectivity-for-attention-operates-on-a-unified-spectrum/
The brain systems that help children maintain focus seem to operate on a single shared spectrum, regardless of whether a child has an attention disorder. A large new study shows that the neurological markers of attention abilities do not differ between children with and without a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The research was published in the *Journal of Attention Disorders*.
Attention is not a simple all-or-nothing trait. People possess varying levels of what psychologists call inhibitory control of attention. This is the cognitive skill that allows someone to focus on a specific task or stimulus while tuning out background distractions.
Deficits in this specific type of attention are highly common in neurodevelopmental conditions like ADHD. Because these attention difficulties can impact academic performance and daily life, medical researchers want to understand the underlying brain physiology. This knowledge can help guide clinical therapies for those who struggle the most.
Traditionally, psychiatric research has relied heavily on categorical diagnostic groups. This approach assumes that people with a condition like ADHD are fundamentally distinct from people without it. This traditional method helps doctors communicate efficiently about treatments, but it can mask the immense variability that exists within any single diagnostic group.
By contrast, modern frameworks propose studying human behavior along a continuous spectrum. Under this model, cognitive abilities and deficits are viewed as traits that everyone possesses to varying degrees. The new findings lend strong support to this dimensional approach for investigating neurodevelopmental outcomes.
To explore this concept, scientists use a tool called functional magnetic resonance imaging. Commonly known as fMRI, this technology measures brain activity by detecting subtle changes associated with blood flow. When neurons become active, they require more oxygen, which is transported by the blood.
Specifically, scientists look at functional connectivity, which maps how different regions of the brain communicate and synchronize their resting activity. When multiple brain areas activate together in an organized way, they form intricate functional networks. These networks manage everything from processing visual information to governing complex behaviors.
Prior research has linked particular brain networks to attention skills, while separate lines of research have linked other networks to ADHD diagnoses. Yet it remained unknown if having an official ADHD diagnosis changes the fundamental relationship between a person’s attention skills and their brain connectivity. Answering this question helps psychologists determine the most effective ways to model cognitive disorders.
Kelsey Harkness, a researcher at the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute at the University of Calgary, led the new investigation to bridge this gap. Her team wanted to test if children with ADHD exist along the same continuum of brain and behavior associations as children without the diagnosis. They approached the investigation from a purely analytical standpoint to avoid past biases.
The researchers utilized information from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development database. This is a massive, long-term national project collecting neuroimaging and psychological data from children across the United States. The database aims to provide a highly representative sample of the nation’s youth for scientific inquiry.
For this large study, Harkness and her colleagues analyzed data from just over 7,000 children who were either nine or ten years old. Within this group, nearly 500 children had a current diagnosis of ADHD. The rest of the children served as a baseline control group.
To measure inhibitory control of attention, the subjects completed a standardized assessment called the Flanker task. During this test, children must identify the direction of a central arrow on a screen while ignoring surrounding arrows that point in either the same or opposite directions. The test determines a score based on both accuracy and reaction time.
The team also analyzed resting-state fMRI scans for all the children involved. Unlike traditional fMRI studies where subjects perform academic tasks while inside the scanner, resting-state scans observe the brain while a person is simply lying still and remaining awake. This allows the scanner to record the brain’s default communication patterns.
Task-based imaging can sometimes be complicated by how well or poorly a participant performs the required test while inside the machine. A child who is anxious about the loud, confined space of an MRI scanner might score poorly, skewing the functional connectivity data. Resting-state scans minimize this performance pressure, allowing scientists to identify the inherent communication routes within the nervous system.
The data analysis revealed independent patterns linking resting brain connectivity to both attention scores and diagnostic status. For instance, the children’s performance on the Flanker task correlated with connectivity in specific cortical circuits, such as the visual baseline networks. It also aligned with regions involved in sensory and motor processing, particularly those related to physical mouth or hand movements.
Separately, having an ADHD diagnosis was associated with connectivity patterns in entirely different brain regions. These connections primarily involved the ventral attention and auditory networks. These systems typically help the brain orient to unexpected sounds or new stimuli in the surrounding environment.
When the researchers compared the networks linked to attention scores with the networks linked to ADHD, they found no overlap. The brain connectivity differences associated with an ADHD diagnosis were completely distinct from the connectivity differences associated with basic attention skills. This divergence suggests that different behavioral traits depend on separate neurological pathways.
Most importantly, the team tested whether an ADHD diagnosis altered the relationship between a child’s attention score and their brain connectivity. The results of this specific test were not statistically significant.
This lack of an interaction means the neural wiring associated with inhibitory control looks essentially identical across both groups. A child with ADHD who scores poorly on the attention test has the same related brain connectivity as a neurotypical child who scores poorly.
The findings support the idea that attention abilities exist on a single, continuous spectrum for all children. It suggests that researchers can study fundamental cognitive traits across the entire population, rather than isolating individuals into rigid diagnostic categories. This framework aligns perfectly with transdiagnostic models of mental health.
The discovery that completely different brain networks relate to ADHD and attention also provides new insight into the disorder itself. It implies that the functional connectivity differences seen in children with ADHD might be driven by environmental factors or other symptoms. Diagnostic brain markers are likely influenced by a broad range of developmental variables beyond just the ability to tune out distractions.
Despite the large sample size, the researchers noted several limitations to their current analysis. The study only included children who were nine and ten years old, limiting the ability to generalize the results to younger children, teenagers, or adults.
Attention abilities and brain networks both develop and change rapidly as children grow. Certain networks become more robust during adolescence, while others scale back. Future developmental studies will need to track participants across different age ranges to see if this unified spectrum of attention stays consistent throughout the human lifespan.
The research team also relied on a single computer assessment, the Flanker task, to measure inhibitory control. Different types of attention tasks often engage slightly different brain networks. Using multiple assessments combined might yield a more rounded picture of childhood cognitive function in future projects.
Finally, the study calculated functional connectivity broadly across large, predefined cortical networks. This macro-level view prevented the researchers from examining the influence of smaller, deeper brain structures. Aggregating the data into twelve overarching networks simplifies the analysis but obscures fine-scale neurological mapping.
Deeper regions like the thalamus and striatum are known to play regulatory roles in attention. They are also frequent pharmacological targets for stimulant treatments prescribed to children with hyperactivity. Future investigations that look at the brain at a finer spatial scale could reveal additional details about the physiology of these conditions.
Ultimately, learning exactly how cognitive impairments relate to brain architecture can help medical professionals develop highly personalized interventions. By viewing attention as a continuum rather than a strictly binary trait, scientists hope to foster better long-term outcomes for all patients. Expanding on these transdiagnostic frameworks could redefine how developmental disorders are diagnosed and treated in the future.
The study, “The Relationship Between Inhibitory Control of Attention and fMRI Functional Connectivity in Children With and Without ADHD,” was authored by Kelsey Harkness, Matthias Wilms, Kate J. Godfrey, Signe Bray, and Kara Murias.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-connectivity-for-attention-operates-on-a-unified-spectrum/
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #ADHD #AttentionNetworks #fMRIFunctionalConnectivity #InhibitoryControl #Neurodevelopment #RestingStatefMRI #BrainConnectivity #Transdiagnostic #AttentionSpectrum #PediatricNeuroscience
-
DATE: July 26, 2026 at 12:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Scientists map the brain’s attention networks in children with ADHD
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-connectivity-for-attention-operates-on-a-unified-spectrum/
The brain systems that help children maintain focus seem to operate on a single shared spectrum, regardless of whether a child has an attention disorder. A large new study shows that the neurological markers of attention abilities do not differ between children with and without a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The research was published in the *Journal of Attention Disorders*.
Attention is not a simple all-or-nothing trait. People possess varying levels of what psychologists call inhibitory control of attention. This is the cognitive skill that allows someone to focus on a specific task or stimulus while tuning out background distractions.
Deficits in this specific type of attention are highly common in neurodevelopmental conditions like ADHD. Because these attention difficulties can impact academic performance and daily life, medical researchers want to understand the underlying brain physiology. This knowledge can help guide clinical therapies for those who struggle the most.
Traditionally, psychiatric research has relied heavily on categorical diagnostic groups. This approach assumes that people with a condition like ADHD are fundamentally distinct from people without it. This traditional method helps doctors communicate efficiently about treatments, but it can mask the immense variability that exists within any single diagnostic group.
By contrast, modern frameworks propose studying human behavior along a continuous spectrum. Under this model, cognitive abilities and deficits are viewed as traits that everyone possesses to varying degrees. The new findings lend strong support to this dimensional approach for investigating neurodevelopmental outcomes.
To explore this concept, scientists use a tool called functional magnetic resonance imaging. Commonly known as fMRI, this technology measures brain activity by detecting subtle changes associated with blood flow. When neurons become active, they require more oxygen, which is transported by the blood.
Specifically, scientists look at functional connectivity, which maps how different regions of the brain communicate and synchronize their resting activity. When multiple brain areas activate together in an organized way, they form intricate functional networks. These networks manage everything from processing visual information to governing complex behaviors.
Prior research has linked particular brain networks to attention skills, while separate lines of research have linked other networks to ADHD diagnoses. Yet it remained unknown if having an official ADHD diagnosis changes the fundamental relationship between a person’s attention skills and their brain connectivity. Answering this question helps psychologists determine the most effective ways to model cognitive disorders.
Kelsey Harkness, a researcher at the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute at the University of Calgary, led the new investigation to bridge this gap. Her team wanted to test if children with ADHD exist along the same continuum of brain and behavior associations as children without the diagnosis. They approached the investigation from a purely analytical standpoint to avoid past biases.
The researchers utilized information from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development database. This is a massive, long-term national project collecting neuroimaging and psychological data from children across the United States. The database aims to provide a highly representative sample of the nation’s youth for scientific inquiry.
For this large study, Harkness and her colleagues analyzed data from just over 7,000 children who were either nine or ten years old. Within this group, nearly 500 children had a current diagnosis of ADHD. The rest of the children served as a baseline control group.
To measure inhibitory control of attention, the subjects completed a standardized assessment called the Flanker task. During this test, children must identify the direction of a central arrow on a screen while ignoring surrounding arrows that point in either the same or opposite directions. The test determines a score based on both accuracy and reaction time.
The team also analyzed resting-state fMRI scans for all the children involved. Unlike traditional fMRI studies where subjects perform academic tasks while inside the scanner, resting-state scans observe the brain while a person is simply lying still and remaining awake. This allows the scanner to record the brain’s default communication patterns.
Task-based imaging can sometimes be complicated by how well or poorly a participant performs the required test while inside the machine. A child who is anxious about the loud, confined space of an MRI scanner might score poorly, skewing the functional connectivity data. Resting-state scans minimize this performance pressure, allowing scientists to identify the inherent communication routes within the nervous system.
The data analysis revealed independent patterns linking resting brain connectivity to both attention scores and diagnostic status. For instance, the children’s performance on the Flanker task correlated with connectivity in specific cortical circuits, such as the visual baseline networks. It also aligned with regions involved in sensory and motor processing, particularly those related to physical mouth or hand movements.
Separately, having an ADHD diagnosis was associated with connectivity patterns in entirely different brain regions. These connections primarily involved the ventral attention and auditory networks. These systems typically help the brain orient to unexpected sounds or new stimuli in the surrounding environment.
When the researchers compared the networks linked to attention scores with the networks linked to ADHD, they found no overlap. The brain connectivity differences associated with an ADHD diagnosis were completely distinct from the connectivity differences associated with basic attention skills. This divergence suggests that different behavioral traits depend on separate neurological pathways.
Most importantly, the team tested whether an ADHD diagnosis altered the relationship between a child’s attention score and their brain connectivity. The results of this specific test were not statistically significant.
This lack of an interaction means the neural wiring associated with inhibitory control looks essentially identical across both groups. A child with ADHD who scores poorly on the attention test has the same related brain connectivity as a neurotypical child who scores poorly.
The findings support the idea that attention abilities exist on a single, continuous spectrum for all children. It suggests that researchers can study fundamental cognitive traits across the entire population, rather than isolating individuals into rigid diagnostic categories. This framework aligns perfectly with transdiagnostic models of mental health.
The discovery that completely different brain networks relate to ADHD and attention also provides new insight into the disorder itself. It implies that the functional connectivity differences seen in children with ADHD might be driven by environmental factors or other symptoms. Diagnostic brain markers are likely influenced by a broad range of developmental variables beyond just the ability to tune out distractions.
Despite the large sample size, the researchers noted several limitations to their current analysis. The study only included children who were nine and ten years old, limiting the ability to generalize the results to younger children, teenagers, or adults.
Attention abilities and brain networks both develop and change rapidly as children grow. Certain networks become more robust during adolescence, while others scale back. Future developmental studies will need to track participants across different age ranges to see if this unified spectrum of attention stays consistent throughout the human lifespan.
The research team also relied on a single computer assessment, the Flanker task, to measure inhibitory control. Different types of attention tasks often engage slightly different brain networks. Using multiple assessments combined might yield a more rounded picture of childhood cognitive function in future projects.
Finally, the study calculated functional connectivity broadly across large, predefined cortical networks. This macro-level view prevented the researchers from examining the influence of smaller, deeper brain structures. Aggregating the data into twelve overarching networks simplifies the analysis but obscures fine-scale neurological mapping.
Deeper regions like the thalamus and striatum are known to play regulatory roles in attention. They are also frequent pharmacological targets for stimulant treatments prescribed to children with hyperactivity. Future investigations that look at the brain at a finer spatial scale could reveal additional details about the physiology of these conditions.
Ultimately, learning exactly how cognitive impairments relate to brain architecture can help medical professionals develop highly personalized interventions. By viewing attention as a continuum rather than a strictly binary trait, scientists hope to foster better long-term outcomes for all patients. Expanding on these transdiagnostic frameworks could redefine how developmental disorders are diagnosed and treated in the future.
The study, “The Relationship Between Inhibitory Control of Attention and fMRI Functional Connectivity in Children With and Without ADHD,” was authored by Kelsey Harkness, Matthias Wilms, Kate J. Godfrey, Signe Bray, and Kara Murias.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-connectivity-for-attention-operates-on-a-unified-spectrum/
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #ADHD #AttentionNetworks #fMRIFunctionalConnectivity #InhibitoryControl #Neurodevelopment #RestingStatefMRI #BrainConnectivity #Transdiagnostic #AttentionSpectrum #PediatricNeuroscience
-
7 unexpected takeaways from the newest research on cannabis and brain effects
Stephen Lankenau has spent years studying how people use cannabis in everyday life. As director of Drexel University’s…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #Health #brainconnectivity #cannabisintoxication #commercialproducts #psychoactiveeffects #Recreationalcannabis #StephenLankenau #studies
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/713155/ -
7 unexpected takeaways from the newest research on cannabis and brain effects
Stephen Lankenau has spent years studying how people use cannabis in everyday life. As director of Drexel University’s…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #Health #brainconnectivity #cannabisintoxication #commercialproducts #psychoactiveeffects #Recreationalcannabis #StephenLankenau #studies
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/713155/ -
Handwriting But Not Typewriting Leads To Widespread Brain Connectivity - A High-Density EEG Study With Implications For The Classroom
--
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10853352/ <-- shared paper
--
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/14/learning/what-teenagers-are-saying-about-writing-by-hand-in-the-digital-age.html <-- shared media article
--
#handwriting #typewriting #typing #digital #brainconnectivity #coherence #highdensityEEG #youngadults #humanbrain #learning #compherension #understanding #composition #brain #connectivity #memory #understanding #information #spatiotemporal #visual #proprioceptive #writing #composition #spelling #motorskills #creative #polished #AI #memory #composition #concentration -
Handwriting But Not Typewriting Leads To Widespread Brain Connectivity - A High-Density EEG Study With Implications For The Classroom
--
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10853352/ <-- shared paper
--
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/14/learning/what-teenagers-are-saying-about-writing-by-hand-in-the-digital-age.html <-- shared media article
--
#handwriting #typewriting #typing #digital #brainconnectivity #coherence #highdensityEEG #youngadults #humanbrain #learning #compherension #understanding #composition #brain #connectivity #memory #understanding #information #spatiotemporal #visual #proprioceptive #writing #composition #spelling #motorskills #creative #polished #AI #memory #composition #concentration -
Handwriting But Not Typewriting Leads To Widespread Brain Connectivity - A High-Density EEG Study With Implications For The Classroom
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https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10853352/ <-- shared paper
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https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/14/learning/what-teenagers-are-saying-about-writing-by-hand-in-the-digital-age.html <-- shared media article
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#handwriting #typewriting #typing #digital #brainconnectivity #coherence #highdensityEEG #youngadults #humanbrain #learning #compherension #understanding #composition #brain #connectivity #memory #understanding #information #spatiotemporal #visual #proprioceptive #writing #composition #spelling #motorskills #creative #polished #AI #memory #composition #concentration -
Handwriting But Not Typewriting Leads To Widespread Brain Connectivity - A High-Density EEG Study With Implications For The Classroom
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https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10853352/ <-- shared paper
--
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/14/learning/what-teenagers-are-saying-about-writing-by-hand-in-the-digital-age.html <-- shared media article
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#handwriting #typewriting #typing #digital #brainconnectivity #coherence #highdensityEEG #youngadults #humanbrain #learning #compherension #understanding #composition #brain #connectivity #memory #understanding #information #spatiotemporal #visual #proprioceptive #writing #composition #spelling #motorskills #creative #polished #AI #memory #composition #concentration -
Handwriting But Not Typewriting Leads To Widespread Brain Connectivity - A High-Density EEG Study With Implications For The Classroom
--
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10853352/ <-- shared paper
--
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/14/learning/what-teenagers-are-saying-about-writing-by-hand-in-the-digital-age.html <-- shared media article
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#handwriting #typewriting #typing #digital #brainconnectivity #coherence #highdensityEEG #youngadults #humanbrain #learning #compherension #understanding #composition #brain #connectivity #memory #understanding #information #spatiotemporal #visual #proprioceptive #writing #composition #spelling #motorskills #creative #polished #AI #memory #composition #concentration -
Two Distinct Autism Subtypes Identified Via Brain Connectivity
Summary: A new study has broken through decades of clinical ambiguity by proving that autism can be split…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #Health #ASD #autism #brainconnectivity #brainresearch #ChildMindInstitute #neurobiology #Neuroimaging #Neuroscience
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/673712/ -
Two Distinct Autism Subtypes Identified Via Brain Connectivity
Summary: A new study has broken through decades of clinical ambiguity by proving that autism can be split…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #Health #ASD #autism #brainconnectivity #brainresearch #ChildMindInstitute #neurobiology #Neuroimaging #Neuroscience
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/673712/ -
DATE: May 22, 2026 at 08:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Higher body mass index in youth linked to altered brain connectivity
URL: https://www.psypost.org/higher-body-mass-index-in-youth-linked-to-altered-brain-connectivity/
Children and adolescents with a higher body mass index show distinct differences in their brain activity and the ways different brain regions communicate with one another. These neurological patterns point to a reduction in the brain’s natural inhibitory systems, which might make it harder for to change deeply ingrained habits. The findings were recently published in Clinical Neurophysiology.
The human brain continues to develop and rewire itself heavily throughout childhood and adolescence. The frontal cortex, a brain area responsible for impulse control and complex decision making, is among the last regions to fully mature. During this lengthy developmental window, the brain is highly sensitive to environmental factors. Such external influences include nutrition, physical activity, and overall body weight.
Animal models have shown that diets high in fat and sugar can disrupt the delicate equilibrium of the brain. Brain cells communicate using a mix of excitatory signals that increase activity and inhibitory signals that quiet activity down. Proper brain function relies on maintaining a steady balance between these two forces.
In rodents, researchers found that obesity related diets damaged specialized inhibitory cells in the frontal cortex. These cells are typically wrapped in a protective mesh called a perineuronal net. High fat diets appeared to erode this protective mesh, leaving the inhibitory cells vulnerable to damage.
When these inhibitory cells fail to function properly, the brain loses its ability to hit the neurological brakes. This results in a state of hyper-excitability. A research team wanted to see if human youths with higher body weights exhibited neurological patterns similar to this disinhibited state.
Amy C. Reichelt, a researcher at Western University and the University of Adelaide, led the investigation. She worked alongside Benjamin T. Dunkley from the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, as well as a team of other specialists. Together, they designed a study to directly measure brain activity in young volunteers.
The researchers recruited 32 children and teenagers, ranging in age from eight to 19 years old. They calculated each participant’s body mass index, a standard medical metric based on a ratio of height to weight. The cohort was divided into two groups based on how their body mass index compared to standard growth charts for their specific age and sex.
One group consisted of 15 youths with a lower body mass index, falling within average ranges. The other group included 17 youths with a higher body mass index, falling into the overweight or obese categories. Both groups were matched as closely as possible for age and height.
To measure brain activity, the team used a noninvasive imaging technique called magnetoencephalography. This technology relies on highly sensitive sensors to detect the tiny magnetic fields generated by the electrical activity of neurons. This method offers incredibly detailed information about the timing and rapid frequency of brain waves. It can track neural oscillations millisecond by millisecond.
Instead of asking participants to perform an active cognitive puzzle, the researchers had them undergo a resting state scan. Participants laid in the scanner and watched a computer generated, abstract video landscape for five minutes. This neutral video helped the subjects stay still while allowing their minds to wander naturally. The approach allowed the scientists to record the brain’s spontaneous background activity.
The researchers analyzed the resulting brain wave data, focusing on rhythmic oscillations. They found that the youths with a higher body mass index exhibited notable differences in high frequency rhythms known as gamma brain waves. Gamma waves are fast electrical rhythms generated when excitatory and inhibitory cells engage with one another.
In the higher body weight group, gamma activity was highly elevated across many different cortical lobes. The researchers found the boldest effects in the posteromedial cortex and the temporoparietal junction, which are areas involved in directing attention. Elevated gamma activity is often interpreted as a sign that the brain’s natural inhibitory systems are not exerting enough control.
The team also looked at aperiodic activity, which is the constant background electrical static in the brain. They measured the slope of this background noise, a common metric that scientists use to gauge the overall balance of excitation and inhibition in neural tissues. The higher weight group had a shallower slope, pointing to a relative lack of neural inhibition.
These background noise differences were most prominent in the frontal cortex and midline parietal regions. The frontal cortex is deeply involved in top down cognitive control and mental flexibility. Alterations here suggest a potential difficulty in regulating impulses and adjusting to new rules.
Beyond isolating localized brain areas, the researchers examined how specialized brain networks communicated with each other. The brain relies on interconnected webs of regions passing information back and forth. For example, the default mode network is active during internal thought, while the central executive network handles focused working memory tasks.
The salience network is another structural web, responsible for detecting relevant stimuli in the environment and deciding what the brain should pay attention to. The researchers mapped the connections between these distinct networks by looking at how their signals synchronized. In youths with a higher body mass index, they observed weakened communication in lower frequency brain waves like delta and theta rhythms.
Specifically, there were reduced connections between the salience network and networks responsible for driving motivated behaviors. Conversely, the same group showed unusually strong connections in high frequency gamma waves. These tighter high frequency bonds appeared between the default mode network and the central executive network.
This specific combination of weakened low frequency bonds and enhanced high frequency bonds points to an overall loss of efficiency. The typical pathways used to coordinate thoughts and behaviors appeared reorganized in the higher weight group. This could mean the brain is working harder to transmit the same amount of information.
The researchers note several caveats to their experimental approach. Body mass index is an imperfect tool, taking only height and weight into account. It cannot distinguish between muscle mass and adipose tissue. This means it does not always provide an exact reflection of an individual’s body fat percentage.
The relatively small number of participants also means these results should be viewed as preliminary. The observational design of the study means that the researchers cannot state that a higher body mass index caused the brain functioning changes. It remains entirely possible that preexisting brain differences made certain youths more susceptible to excess weight gain.
The scientists also did not track the participants’ daily diets, physical activity levels, or perform behavioral cognitive tests. As a result, the real world implications of these neural shifts are not yet known. It remains a mystery how these specific brain wave patterns translate to daily decision making, academic performance, or emotional regulation.
Future research could incorporate detailed dietary tracking and extensive cognitive assessments alongside brain imaging. The researchers suggest that weakened inhibitory signaling in the frontal cortex could directly influence decision making around food over the long term. Without robust inhibitory control, individuals might find it much harder to resist eating highly palatable foods.
Over time, this could create a feedback loop where dietary habits alter brain development, which in turn entrenches those same dietary habits. Understanding how body weight relates to adolescent brain development might eventually help medical professionals design better strategies for supporting both mental and physical health.
The study, “Elevated body mass index in youth is associated with neural disinhibition and internetwork functional dysconnectivity: A magnetoencephalography study,” was authored by A.C. Reichelt, E. Daskalakis, J. Cohen, K.G. Solar, M. Saberi, M. Ventresca, M. Ali, R. Zamyadi, V. Bhat, S.E. Scratch, J. Hamilton, and B.T. Dunkley.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/higher-body-mass-index-in-youth-linked-to-altered-brain-connectivity/
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New nTL-MDPC method enhances EEG/MEG connectivity analysis by capturing nonlinear brain interactions, outperforming linear TL-MDPC by up to 15% in explained variance under optimal conditions. #Neuroscience #BrainConnectivity #EEG #MEG www.researchgate.net/publication/...
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