#neuroimaging — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #neuroimaging, aggregated by home.social.
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DATE: August 12, 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: Evolving political views linked to changes in brain activity
URL: https://www.psypost.org/how-shifting-political-loyalties-alter-brain-activity-over-time/
When people alter their political loyalties, the way their brains respond to political messages changes alongside those shifting allegiances. A small study tracked individuals over two and a half years and found that evolving feelings about political groups altered brain activity in regions related to emotion and memory. These results, published in Communications Psychology, detail how social identity deeply shapes the way the human brain processes political information.
Political identity has traditionally been measured by a person’s abstract beliefs or policy preferences, such as identifying as liberal or conservative. In recent years, political polarization has become more personal, with group loyalty often overriding specific policy positions. Many voters now view politics through a lens of strict group membership, prioritizing whether a politician belongs to their specific faction over the details of proposed legislation. This shift has led researchers to ask how changes in worldview manifest physically within the brain over time.
Most neuroimaging studies compare different groups of people at a single moment in time. Very few track how an individual’s neural responses to the exact same information might shift as their own perspectives evolve. Finding an environment to test this is difficult, because adult political opinions tend to remain stable under normal conditions.
The research was conducted by neuroscientists Gal Boiman, Tal Ohad, and Yaara Yeshurun at Tel Aviv University, along with their colleagues Yohay Zvi and Noa Katabi. The team took advantage of a prolonged period of political instability in Israel starting in 2019. During this time, repeated elections and unexpected alliances disrupted traditional party lines, creating a rare opportunity to observe people as their political loyalties shifted in real time.
To study this phenomenon, the researchers recruited a group of participants for an initial brain scanning session in April 2019. More than two years later, in August 2021, 21 of those individuals returned for a second scan. Because the sample included fewer than 50 participants, it is considered a small study. During both sessions, participants lay inside a functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner, a machine that measures brain activity by tracking blood flow.
While inside the scanner, the participants watched identical sets of videos. The video clips included campaign advertisements from left-wing, right-wing, and centrist parties, as well as speeches by political figures. A documentary clip about a man who converted an old bus into a house served as a neutral baseline.
After each scanning session, the participants answered extensive questionnaires in a separate room. These surveys measured their agreement with the videos, their emotional engagement, and their specific sentiments toward the political figures shown. The questions asked participants to rate feelings like trust, pride, anger, and disgust. During the 2021 session, participants also answered questions about how their opinions had changed since the first viewing.
The research team used the survey responses to calculate a score representing how much each person’s interpretation of the videos had altered. They divided these changes into two main categories. One category measured shifts in abstract ideology, such as opinions on specific government policies. The second category measured changes in group identity, capturing how participants felt about specific politicians and political factions.
Next, the researchers compared the brain scans from 2019 with the scans from 2021. They looked for differences in brain activity across thousands of tiny, three-dimensional blocks of brain tissue, known as voxels. The researchers mapped these differences to see which parts of the brain changed the most and which remained stable. To ensure accuracy, they filtered out baseline changes that occurred when participants watched the neutral documentary video.
The analysis revealed a hierarchy of brain adaptation. Brain regions responsible for basic sensory processing, such as the visual and auditory cortices, showed the least amount of change between the two sessions. When participants watched the same videos two years later, their visual and auditory centers reacted in almost the exact same way.
In contrast, the largest differences in brain activity appeared in areas deep within the brain that manage memory, emotion, and reward. These areas included the amygdala, the hippocampus, and the striatum. The amygdala helps process emotional reactions, the hippocampus is heavily involved in forming and retrieving memories, and the striatum plays a role in recognizing rewards.
The researchers then looked for links between the altered brain activity and the survey scores measuring shifts in interpretation. They found that changes in brain activity directly correlated with how much a participant’s interpretation of a video had changed. The brain activity shifted the most when participants watched videos of politicians who had made unexpected alliances or changed their political positioning during the two-year gap.
When the researchers separated the survey scores into ideology and group identity, a distinct pattern emerged. The alterations in brain activity were strongly associated with changing feelings about political groups and specific figures. In contrast, the relationship between brain activity and changes in abstract ideological beliefs was not statistically significant. This suggests that shifting loyalties to a political team are more closely tied to how the brain processes information than changing opinions on policy.
The study design relies on observing natural changes over time, meaning it can only identify associations rather than establish direct causes. It remains unknown whether changing political attitudes cause the brain’s processing pathways to alter, or if underlying neural shifts lead to new political attitudes. The authors note that the small sample size prevented them from comparing different demographic groups, such as strictly conservative versus liberal voters. This limitation makes it impossible to say if one end of the political spectrum experiences these brain changes differently than the other.
The findings also depend on real-world political developments, which introduces some contextual variables. A participant might interpret a video differently in 2021 not just because their internal worldview changed, but because the politician in the video had taken new actions in the real world. Future research could use controlled laboratory settings to isolate personal shifts in opinion from external political events.
The study, “Changes in political attitudes are associated with changes in neural responses to political content,” was authored by Gal Boiman, Tal Ohad, Yohay Zvi, Noa Katabi, and Yaara Yeshurun.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/how-shifting-political-loyalties-alter-brain-activity-over-time/
-------------------------------------------------
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 #PoliticalIdentity #BrainActivity #Neuroscience #PoliticalPersuasion #EmotionMemory #AmygdalaHippocampus #VoterLoyalty #Neuroimaging #PoliticalContent #BlockbusterResearch
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DATE: August 12, 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: Evolving political views linked to changes in brain activity
URL: https://www.psypost.org/how-shifting-political-loyalties-alter-brain-activity-over-time/
When people alter their political loyalties, the way their brains respond to political messages changes alongside those shifting allegiances. A small study tracked individuals over two and a half years and found that evolving feelings about political groups altered brain activity in regions related to emotion and memory. These results, published in Communications Psychology, detail how social identity deeply shapes the way the human brain processes political information.
Political identity has traditionally been measured by a person’s abstract beliefs or policy preferences, such as identifying as liberal or conservative. In recent years, political polarization has become more personal, with group loyalty often overriding specific policy positions. Many voters now view politics through a lens of strict group membership, prioritizing whether a politician belongs to their specific faction over the details of proposed legislation. This shift has led researchers to ask how changes in worldview manifest physically within the brain over time.
Most neuroimaging studies compare different groups of people at a single moment in time. Very few track how an individual’s neural responses to the exact same information might shift as their own perspectives evolve. Finding an environment to test this is difficult, because adult political opinions tend to remain stable under normal conditions.
The research was conducted by neuroscientists Gal Boiman, Tal Ohad, and Yaara Yeshurun at Tel Aviv University, along with their colleagues Yohay Zvi and Noa Katabi. The team took advantage of a prolonged period of political instability in Israel starting in 2019. During this time, repeated elections and unexpected alliances disrupted traditional party lines, creating a rare opportunity to observe people as their political loyalties shifted in real time.
To study this phenomenon, the researchers recruited a group of participants for an initial brain scanning session in April 2019. More than two years later, in August 2021, 21 of those individuals returned for a second scan. Because the sample included fewer than 50 participants, it is considered a small study. During both sessions, participants lay inside a functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner, a machine that measures brain activity by tracking blood flow.
While inside the scanner, the participants watched identical sets of videos. The video clips included campaign advertisements from left-wing, right-wing, and centrist parties, as well as speeches by political figures. A documentary clip about a man who converted an old bus into a house served as a neutral baseline.
After each scanning session, the participants answered extensive questionnaires in a separate room. These surveys measured their agreement with the videos, their emotional engagement, and their specific sentiments toward the political figures shown. The questions asked participants to rate feelings like trust, pride, anger, and disgust. During the 2021 session, participants also answered questions about how their opinions had changed since the first viewing.
The research team used the survey responses to calculate a score representing how much each person’s interpretation of the videos had altered. They divided these changes into two main categories. One category measured shifts in abstract ideology, such as opinions on specific government policies. The second category measured changes in group identity, capturing how participants felt about specific politicians and political factions.
Next, the researchers compared the brain scans from 2019 with the scans from 2021. They looked for differences in brain activity across thousands of tiny, three-dimensional blocks of brain tissue, known as voxels. The researchers mapped these differences to see which parts of the brain changed the most and which remained stable. To ensure accuracy, they filtered out baseline changes that occurred when participants watched the neutral documentary video.
The analysis revealed a hierarchy of brain adaptation. Brain regions responsible for basic sensory processing, such as the visual and auditory cortices, showed the least amount of change between the two sessions. When participants watched the same videos two years later, their visual and auditory centers reacted in almost the exact same way.
In contrast, the largest differences in brain activity appeared in areas deep within the brain that manage memory, emotion, and reward. These areas included the amygdala, the hippocampus, and the striatum. The amygdala helps process emotional reactions, the hippocampus is heavily involved in forming and retrieving memories, and the striatum plays a role in recognizing rewards.
The researchers then looked for links between the altered brain activity and the survey scores measuring shifts in interpretation. They found that changes in brain activity directly correlated with how much a participant’s interpretation of a video had changed. The brain activity shifted the most when participants watched videos of politicians who had made unexpected alliances or changed their political positioning during the two-year gap.
When the researchers separated the survey scores into ideology and group identity, a distinct pattern emerged. The alterations in brain activity were strongly associated with changing feelings about political groups and specific figures. In contrast, the relationship between brain activity and changes in abstract ideological beliefs was not statistically significant. This suggests that shifting loyalties to a political team are more closely tied to how the brain processes information than changing opinions on policy.
The study design relies on observing natural changes over time, meaning it can only identify associations rather than establish direct causes. It remains unknown whether changing political attitudes cause the brain’s processing pathways to alter, or if underlying neural shifts lead to new political attitudes. The authors note that the small sample size prevented them from comparing different demographic groups, such as strictly conservative versus liberal voters. This limitation makes it impossible to say if one end of the political spectrum experiences these brain changes differently than the other.
The findings also depend on real-world political developments, which introduces some contextual variables. A participant might interpret a video differently in 2021 not just because their internal worldview changed, but because the politician in the video had taken new actions in the real world. Future research could use controlled laboratory settings to isolate personal shifts in opinion from external political events.
The study, “Changes in political attitudes are associated with changes in neural responses to political content,” was authored by Gal Boiman, Tal Ohad, Yohay Zvi, Noa Katabi, and Yaara Yeshurun.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/how-shifting-political-loyalties-alter-brain-activity-over-time/
-------------------------------------------------
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 #PoliticalIdentity #BrainActivity #Neuroscience #PoliticalPersuasion #EmotionMemory #AmygdalaHippocampus #VoterLoyalty #Neuroimaging #PoliticalContent #BlockbusterResearch
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DATE: August 11, 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: Cognitive abilities help explain regional brain aging patterns in anxiety and depression
A new study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders suggests that the advanced brain aging often seen in people with anxiety and depression is partly associated with variations in their cognitive performance. By accounting for cognitive skills like memory and processing speed, scientists observed that the apparent effect of these psychiatric conditions on brain aging decreased by roughly twenty to twenty-five percent. This indicates that cognitive differences play an important role in understanding brain health in individuals with neuropsychiatric conditions.
Biological aging of the brain can sometimes diverge from chronological aging. Using structural magnetic resonance imaging, machine learning algorithms can predict a person’s brain age by comparing their brain structure to a large dataset of healthy individuals. The difference between this predicted age and the person’s actual age is called the brain age gap. A positive gap indicates an older-appearing brain, which is linked to cognitive decline, health risks, and various neurological conditions.
Neuropsychiatric disorders like depression and anxiety are associated with increased brain age gaps. People with these conditions also frequently experience cognitive difficulties that affect their attention, executive function, and processing speed. Executive function refers to a set of mental skills that include working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control. Because cognitive decline is a common feature of mood disorders, it is often difficult to tell if brain aging differences reflect the psychiatric diagnosis itself or the accompanying cognitive variation.
Previous neuroimaging research typically looked at global brain age, which assumes aging happens uniformly across the entire brain. This approach can obscure specific regional effects.
“Our main motivation was that most previous brain-age studies summarize the entire brain using a single number,” said Owen M. Vega, a doctoral candidate in the neuroscience graduate program at the University of Southern California and a researcher at the Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center in the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology.
“While useful, that approach assumes the brain ages uniformly and provides little insight into why certain disorders are associated with advanced brain aging. We wanted to move beyond prediction toward biological understanding,” Vega told PsyPost.
By mapping brain age at a regional level and accounting for cognitive performance, the researchers aimed to identify the specific neural systems affected and link them to underlying cellular processes.
“Ultimately, this brings us closer to understanding the biological mechanisms that contribute to psychiatric brain aging rather than simply measuring that it exists,” Vega explained.
The authors analyzed data from 21,424 older adult participants in the UK Biobank. Participants were classified into four mutually exclusive groups based on their diagnostic status. The sample included 12,285 individuals with no psychiatric diagnosis, 1,746 with anxiety only, 4,267 with depression only, and 1,563 with comorbid anxiety and depression. Comorbidity means the individual met the criteria for both conditions.
To estimate regional brain ages, the scientists processed structural brain scans through a deep neural network, breaking the brain down into 187 distinct cortical and subcortical regions. Participants also completed several cognitive assessments measuring fluid intelligence, reaction time, and symbol substitution. These test results were statistically combined into a single principal component score representing general cognitive performance. The models also controlled for participant sex, years of education, and socioeconomic deprivation to isolate the variables of interest.
The researchers first ran a statistical model that did not account for cognitive performance. They found widespread regional brain age gap elevations across the psychiatric groups compared to the diagnosis-free participants. On average, brains in the anxiety group appeared about 1.01 years older than chronological age. Brains in the depression group appeared 1.05 years older, and brains in the comorbid group appeared 1.14 years older.
These elevated brain ages were widely distributed but particularly pronounced in specific areas. The largest gaps were observed in the anterior frontal and orbitofrontal regions, as well as the temporal pole. These areas are heavily involved in emotion regulation and reward processing.
Vega noted that while the overall increases are relatively small, they provide a starting point for exploring the biology of mental health.
“The effects are statistically robust but modest in size, with average differences of about one year. However, they should not be interpreted as the whole story,” Vega told PsyPost. “Averaging across the entire brain masks much larger regional differences. The real significance of this work lies in identifying where these changes occur.”
By pinpointing these spatial patterns, scientists can relate them to specific genes and molecular pathways, moving the field past simple summary measures.
“This moves brain-age research beyond a single summary measure toward understanding the mechanisms that may contribute to psychiatric illness and cognitive vulnerability,” Vega added.
Next, the authors ran a second model that included the participants’ general cognitive performance scores. Factoring in cognition reduced the magnitude of the brain age gaps by approximately twenty to twenty-five percent. The mean gap dropped to 0.80 years for the anxiety group, 0.84 years for the depression group, and 0.78 years for the comorbid group. Despite this reduction, the effects remained present, indicating that diagnostic status contributes to brain aging independent of cognitive ability.
“The main takeaway is that anxiety and depression are associated with subtle but measurable differences in how the brain ages, and those differences are not spread evenly across the brain,” Vega said.
By showing how these estimates change when mental skills are factored into the equations, the study refines how scientists understand brain health in clinical populations.
“We also found that part of the observed brain-age signal is associated with cognitive performance, showing that cognition is an important piece of the picture,” Vega explained. “More broadly, our work suggests that brain aging in psychiatric disorders reflects specific biological patterns rather than a single, uniform process, which may ultimately help researchers develop more biologically meaningful biomarkers.”
Higher cognitive performance was associated with a younger-looking brain, suggesting a protective effect. This association was noticeably stronger in all three psychiatric groups compared to the diagnosis-free participants. Interestingly, the brain regions most strongly associated with cognitive performance differed from the regions most affected by the psychiatric diagnoses.
Cognitive associations were strongest in subcortical and ventral regions of the brain. These included the thalamus, pallidum, and hippocampus, which are structures located deep beneath the cerebral cortex that are essential for memory formation and information integration. This dissociation suggests that psychiatric status and cognition exert distinct but overlapping influences on different neural systems.
The researchers also looked beyond the magnetic resonance imaging scans to see if their regional brain age maps aligned with other biological data, such as transcriptomics. Transcriptomics is the study of RNA molecules in cells, which reveals how specific genes are turned on or off to drive cellular activity.
“One of the most striking findings was that several independent biological analyses converged on the same underlying systems,” Vega said. “Regional brain-aging patterns identified from MRI aligned with transcriptomic enrichment and biological pathways in a remarkably consistent way.”
This overlap suggests that the structural differences visible on brain scans are directly tied to cellular and genetic changes.
“That convergence gives us greater confidence that these patterns reflect meaningful biology rather than isolated statistical findings, and suggests that regional brain age can serve as a bridge between neuroimaging and molecular neuroscience,” Vega added.
The cross-sectional design of the study relies on data collected at a single point in time. This prevents researchers from establishing the sequence of events.
“A key caveat is that these results are not causal. Our findings do not demonstrate that anxiety or depression directly accelerate brain aging,” Vega said. “Instead, they identify patterns of brain-aging vulnerability associated with psychiatric illness and cognitive performance.”
Tracking individuals over multiple years is necessary to determine if cognitive differences precede advanced brain aging or reflect the downstream consequences of an aging brain. Bidirectional influences are highly likely in these conditions.
“Longitudinal studies will be needed to determine how these relationships evolve over time and whether they predict future cognitive decline,” Vega explained. “The goal was to refine the interpretation of previous brain-age findings and pave the way to clinical research, not to claim a direct mechanism.”
The diagnostic classifications were derived from a combination of self-reported surveys and clinician-confirmed records. The available data lacked details regarding symptom severity, illness duration, and the age of onset. The researchers were unable to determine if the older brain ages were linked to more severe, chronic, or recurrent forms of mental illness. Residual misclassification or reporting bias might also introduce variability into the data.
The UK Biobank predominantly consists of White European participants who are often healthier than the general population. This demographic makeup limits how well these findings apply to more diverse groups worldwide. Environmental factors, cultural differences, and early-life stressors that influence brain aging were not fully captured in the dataset. Future research should prioritize replicating these findings in more ethnically diverse cohorts.
Future research will continue to explore the genetic and molecular factors that drive these localized brain changes.
“Our next step is to relate regional brain-age maps to other spatially organized biological data,” Vega said. “We are now integrating regional brain-age maps with transcriptomic, genetic, and cellular datasets to identify the biological pathways associated with vulnerability to psychiatric brain aging.”
By building a more comprehensive biological profile, the team aims to improve risk assessments for aging adults.
“Ultimately, we hope this work will improve biologically informed risk stratification, help identify individuals at greatest risk for later cognitive decline, and reveal biological systems that may become targets for future therapeutic interventions,” Vega concluded.
The study, “Cognitive performance modulates regional brain age differences in clinical anxiety and depression,” was authored by Owen M. Vega, Phoebe Imms, Nikhil N. Chaudhari, Wendy J. Mack, Nahian F. Chowdhury, and Andrei Irimia.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #BrainAging #AnxietyDepression #CognitivePerformance #RegionalBrainAge #Neuroimaging #MentalHealthBiology #BrainAgeGap #CognitionAndBrain #Transcriptomics #BiomarkersInMentalHealth
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DATE: August 11, 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: Cognitive abilities help explain regional brain aging patterns in anxiety and depression
A new study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders suggests that the advanced brain aging often seen in people with anxiety and depression is partly associated with variations in their cognitive performance. By accounting for cognitive skills like memory and processing speed, scientists observed that the apparent effect of these psychiatric conditions on brain aging decreased by roughly twenty to twenty-five percent. This indicates that cognitive differences play an important role in understanding brain health in individuals with neuropsychiatric conditions.
Biological aging of the brain can sometimes diverge from chronological aging. Using structural magnetic resonance imaging, machine learning algorithms can predict a person’s brain age by comparing their brain structure to a large dataset of healthy individuals. The difference between this predicted age and the person’s actual age is called the brain age gap. A positive gap indicates an older-appearing brain, which is linked to cognitive decline, health risks, and various neurological conditions.
Neuropsychiatric disorders like depression and anxiety are associated with increased brain age gaps. People with these conditions also frequently experience cognitive difficulties that affect their attention, executive function, and processing speed. Executive function refers to a set of mental skills that include working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control. Because cognitive decline is a common feature of mood disorders, it is often difficult to tell if brain aging differences reflect the psychiatric diagnosis itself or the accompanying cognitive variation.
Previous neuroimaging research typically looked at global brain age, which assumes aging happens uniformly across the entire brain. This approach can obscure specific regional effects.
“Our main motivation was that most previous brain-age studies summarize the entire brain using a single number,” said Owen M. Vega, a doctoral candidate in the neuroscience graduate program at the University of Southern California and a researcher at the Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center in the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology.
“While useful, that approach assumes the brain ages uniformly and provides little insight into why certain disorders are associated with advanced brain aging. We wanted to move beyond prediction toward biological understanding,” Vega told PsyPost.
By mapping brain age at a regional level and accounting for cognitive performance, the researchers aimed to identify the specific neural systems affected and link them to underlying cellular processes.
“Ultimately, this brings us closer to understanding the biological mechanisms that contribute to psychiatric brain aging rather than simply measuring that it exists,” Vega explained.
The authors analyzed data from 21,424 older adult participants in the UK Biobank. Participants were classified into four mutually exclusive groups based on their diagnostic status. The sample included 12,285 individuals with no psychiatric diagnosis, 1,746 with anxiety only, 4,267 with depression only, and 1,563 with comorbid anxiety and depression. Comorbidity means the individual met the criteria for both conditions.
To estimate regional brain ages, the scientists processed structural brain scans through a deep neural network, breaking the brain down into 187 distinct cortical and subcortical regions. Participants also completed several cognitive assessments measuring fluid intelligence, reaction time, and symbol substitution. These test results were statistically combined into a single principal component score representing general cognitive performance. The models also controlled for participant sex, years of education, and socioeconomic deprivation to isolate the variables of interest.
The researchers first ran a statistical model that did not account for cognitive performance. They found widespread regional brain age gap elevations across the psychiatric groups compared to the diagnosis-free participants. On average, brains in the anxiety group appeared about 1.01 years older than chronological age. Brains in the depression group appeared 1.05 years older, and brains in the comorbid group appeared 1.14 years older.
These elevated brain ages were widely distributed but particularly pronounced in specific areas. The largest gaps were observed in the anterior frontal and orbitofrontal regions, as well as the temporal pole. These areas are heavily involved in emotion regulation and reward processing.
Vega noted that while the overall increases are relatively small, they provide a starting point for exploring the biology of mental health.
“The effects are statistically robust but modest in size, with average differences of about one year. However, they should not be interpreted as the whole story,” Vega told PsyPost. “Averaging across the entire brain masks much larger regional differences. The real significance of this work lies in identifying where these changes occur.”
By pinpointing these spatial patterns, scientists can relate them to specific genes and molecular pathways, moving the field past simple summary measures.
“This moves brain-age research beyond a single summary measure toward understanding the mechanisms that may contribute to psychiatric illness and cognitive vulnerability,” Vega added.
Next, the authors ran a second model that included the participants’ general cognitive performance scores. Factoring in cognition reduced the magnitude of the brain age gaps by approximately twenty to twenty-five percent. The mean gap dropped to 0.80 years for the anxiety group, 0.84 years for the depression group, and 0.78 years for the comorbid group. Despite this reduction, the effects remained present, indicating that diagnostic status contributes to brain aging independent of cognitive ability.
“The main takeaway is that anxiety and depression are associated with subtle but measurable differences in how the brain ages, and those differences are not spread evenly across the brain,” Vega said.
By showing how these estimates change when mental skills are factored into the equations, the study refines how scientists understand brain health in clinical populations.
“We also found that part of the observed brain-age signal is associated with cognitive performance, showing that cognition is an important piece of the picture,” Vega explained. “More broadly, our work suggests that brain aging in psychiatric disorders reflects specific biological patterns rather than a single, uniform process, which may ultimately help researchers develop more biologically meaningful biomarkers.”
Higher cognitive performance was associated with a younger-looking brain, suggesting a protective effect. This association was noticeably stronger in all three psychiatric groups compared to the diagnosis-free participants. Interestingly, the brain regions most strongly associated with cognitive performance differed from the regions most affected by the psychiatric diagnoses.
Cognitive associations were strongest in subcortical and ventral regions of the brain. These included the thalamus, pallidum, and hippocampus, which are structures located deep beneath the cerebral cortex that are essential for memory formation and information integration. This dissociation suggests that psychiatric status and cognition exert distinct but overlapping influences on different neural systems.
The researchers also looked beyond the magnetic resonance imaging scans to see if their regional brain age maps aligned with other biological data, such as transcriptomics. Transcriptomics is the study of RNA molecules in cells, which reveals how specific genes are turned on or off to drive cellular activity.
“One of the most striking findings was that several independent biological analyses converged on the same underlying systems,” Vega said. “Regional brain-aging patterns identified from MRI aligned with transcriptomic enrichment and biological pathways in a remarkably consistent way.”
This overlap suggests that the structural differences visible on brain scans are directly tied to cellular and genetic changes.
“That convergence gives us greater confidence that these patterns reflect meaningful biology rather than isolated statistical findings, and suggests that regional brain age can serve as a bridge between neuroimaging and molecular neuroscience,” Vega added.
The cross-sectional design of the study relies on data collected at a single point in time. This prevents researchers from establishing the sequence of events.
“A key caveat is that these results are not causal. Our findings do not demonstrate that anxiety or depression directly accelerate brain aging,” Vega said. “Instead, they identify patterns of brain-aging vulnerability associated with psychiatric illness and cognitive performance.”
Tracking individuals over multiple years is necessary to determine if cognitive differences precede advanced brain aging or reflect the downstream consequences of an aging brain. Bidirectional influences are highly likely in these conditions.
“Longitudinal studies will be needed to determine how these relationships evolve over time and whether they predict future cognitive decline,” Vega explained. “The goal was to refine the interpretation of previous brain-age findings and pave the way to clinical research, not to claim a direct mechanism.”
The diagnostic classifications were derived from a combination of self-reported surveys and clinician-confirmed records. The available data lacked details regarding symptom severity, illness duration, and the age of onset. The researchers were unable to determine if the older brain ages were linked to more severe, chronic, or recurrent forms of mental illness. Residual misclassification or reporting bias might also introduce variability into the data.
The UK Biobank predominantly consists of White European participants who are often healthier than the general population. This demographic makeup limits how well these findings apply to more diverse groups worldwide. Environmental factors, cultural differences, and early-life stressors that influence brain aging were not fully captured in the dataset. Future research should prioritize replicating these findings in more ethnically diverse cohorts.
Future research will continue to explore the genetic and molecular factors that drive these localized brain changes.
“Our next step is to relate regional brain-age maps to other spatially organized biological data,” Vega said. “We are now integrating regional brain-age maps with transcriptomic, genetic, and cellular datasets to identify the biological pathways associated with vulnerability to psychiatric brain aging.”
By building a more comprehensive biological profile, the team aims to improve risk assessments for aging adults.
“Ultimately, we hope this work will improve biologically informed risk stratification, help identify individuals at greatest risk for later cognitive decline, and reveal biological systems that may become targets for future therapeutic interventions,” Vega concluded.
The study, “Cognitive performance modulates regional brain age differences in clinical anxiety and depression,” was authored by Owen M. Vega, Phoebe Imms, Nikhil N. Chaudhari, Wendy J. Mack, Nahian F. Chowdhury, and Andrei Irimia.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #BrainAging #AnxietyDepression #CognitivePerformance #RegionalBrainAge #Neuroimaging #MentalHealthBiology #BrainAgeGap #CognitionAndBrain #Transcriptomics #BiomarkersInMentalHealth
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DATE: August 8, 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: Brain scans reveal widespread structural and functional changes in patients following COVID-19 infection
A recent review of 49 brain imaging studies reveals that COVID-19 is associated with widespread structural and functional changes in the human brain. The findings indicate that the virus affects regions responsible for memory, emotion, and executive function, which may help explain the neurological symptoms many patients experience. The research was published in the journal Cerebral Cortex.
Following the initial outbreak of the coronavirus, many patients began reporting enduring neurological issues, such as brain fog, fatigue, and memory loss. A team of scientists led by researchers Li Chen, Huan Lan, and Wenxiong Liu synthesized data from existing medical studies to build a comprehensive picture of how the virus impacts the central nervous system. They focused on research utilizing magnetic resonance imaging, a technology that uses strong magnetic fields to generate detailed maps of the brain’s internal anatomy and activity.
To evaluate the extent of the damage, the researchers looked at different types of brain tissue. Gray matter consists of the brain’s neuron cell bodies, which process information, while white matter contains the nerve fibers that connect these processing centers. Functional imaging techniques measure blood flow or oxygen levels to track how different brain areas communicate in real time.
The research team conducted a systematic review, gathering 49 previously published studies that compared the brain scans of people who had contracted COVID-19 with those of healthy individuals. These studies included patients in various stages of the disease, ranging from acute infection to long-term recovery. Some of the individual studies were small, involving as few as 10 participants, while others evaluated more than 200 patients.
By pooling the results, the researchers identified consistent patterns of abnormalities across several key brain regions. The frontal lobe, which handles decision-making and cognitive control, frequently showed structural changes. The temporal and parietal lobes, areas involved in sensory processing and attention, also exhibited noticeable differences in patients who had recovered from the virus.
Structural changes in the frontal lobe might explain the loss of top-down cognitive control observed in some patients. The researchers note that the prefrontal cortex is highly sensitive to psychosocial stress. This means the stress of the pandemic itself, alongside the biological infection, might contribute to these structural shifts.
The temporal lobe includes areas like Heschl’s gyrus, a region that processes auditory information. Patients recovering from COVID-19 often experience difficulties processing sound, which can contribute to chronic fatigue as the brain works harder during daily listening activities. The parietal lobe, a region involved in visual and spatial attention, also showed structural changes linked to impaired attention allocation.
In many of these regions, COVID-19 patients displayed a reduction in overall gray matter volume and a thinning of the outer cortical layer. This tissue loss could result from reduced oxygen supply or severe immune system inflammation during the infection. Conversely, a few studies reported localized increases in gray matter volume. The researchers suggest this could represent temporary swelling caused by vascular injury, or it could be the brain’s attempt to compensate for damaged tissue by growing new neural connections.
The review highlighted extensive structural issues in the brain’s white matter. To measure this, scientists track the microscopic diffusion of water molecules along nerve fibers. In COVID-19 patients, this water movement was often abnormal, indicating that the protective coating around the nerve fibers had degraded. These microscopic changes were present even in patients who experienced only mild to moderate respiratory symptoms and had otherwise normal-looking gray matter on standard medical scans.
Functional imaging scans revealed altered patterns of spontaneous brain activity. When patients were simply resting in the scanner, their brains showed abnormal synchronization between different regions. The limbic system, a network of deep brain structures including the insula, hippocampus, and amygdala, frequently exhibited connectivity issues. Because these areas regulate emotion and memory, functional disruptions here often correlated with clinical symptoms like anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress.
When patients were asked to perform working memory tasks during their scans, their brains displayed altered activation patterns. This suggests that the nervous system had to reorganize its resources to maintain normal cognitive performance. Other functional scans focused on the olfactory network, the brain regions responsible for processing smell. Patients suffering from a persistent loss of smell showed disrupted connectivity in this specific network, which also correlated with lower scores on short-term verbal memory tests.
Tests measuring cerebral blood flow found lower than normal circulation in several brain areas, including the frontal and temporal lobes. This restricted blood supply limits the delivery of oxygen and nutrients, which might contribute to difficulties with attention, language processing, and executive function. The review found that deep subcortical nuclei, such as the thalamus, were particularly vulnerable to this reduced blood flow. These deep relay centers have high metabolic demands and rely on adjacent blood vessels that lack secondary backup circulation.
The reviewed studies rely heavily on cross-sectional data, meaning they capture a single snapshot of the brain after infection rather than tracking changes over an extended period. Because the vast majority of these studies lack pre-infection baseline brain scans, it is difficult to prove definitively that COVID-19 directly caused all the observed changes. Individual biological differences present before the pandemic might account for some of the variations in brain structure and function.
The researchers point out that the clinical status of the patients varied widely across the studies. Grouping together individuals with acute infections and those experiencing long-term recovery makes it challenging to isolate how the brain heals over time. Some studies also focused only on specific, predefined brain regions rather than scanning the entire brain. This targeted approach can artificially inflate the statistical differences between patients and healthy controls.
Future research utilizing unbiased, whole-brain analyses and long-term tracking could map the specific trajectory of these neurological changes. Additional follow-up investigations are required to clarify whether COVID-19-related brain alterations are permanent, or if they are reversible with therapeutic interventions and time.
The study, “Widespread structural and functional brain alterations in COVID-19: a systematic review of MRI studies,” was authored by Li Chen, Huan Lan, Wenxiong Liu, Chao Zuo, Graham J. Kemp, Song Wang, Qiyong Gong, and Xueling Suo.
-------------------------------------------------
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #COVID19brainchanges #neuroimaging #brainfog #frontallobe #temporalparietallobe #graymatterloss #white matterintegrity #functionalMRI #neuroinflammation #CerebralCortexstudy
-
DATE: August 8, 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: Brain scans reveal widespread structural and functional changes in patients following COVID-19 infection
A recent review of 49 brain imaging studies reveals that COVID-19 is associated with widespread structural and functional changes in the human brain. The findings indicate that the virus affects regions responsible for memory, emotion, and executive function, which may help explain the neurological symptoms many patients experience. The research was published in the journal Cerebral Cortex.
Following the initial outbreak of the coronavirus, many patients began reporting enduring neurological issues, such as brain fog, fatigue, and memory loss. A team of scientists led by researchers Li Chen, Huan Lan, and Wenxiong Liu synthesized data from existing medical studies to build a comprehensive picture of how the virus impacts the central nervous system. They focused on research utilizing magnetic resonance imaging, a technology that uses strong magnetic fields to generate detailed maps of the brain’s internal anatomy and activity.
To evaluate the extent of the damage, the researchers looked at different types of brain tissue. Gray matter consists of the brain’s neuron cell bodies, which process information, while white matter contains the nerve fibers that connect these processing centers. Functional imaging techniques measure blood flow or oxygen levels to track how different brain areas communicate in real time.
The research team conducted a systematic review, gathering 49 previously published studies that compared the brain scans of people who had contracted COVID-19 with those of healthy individuals. These studies included patients in various stages of the disease, ranging from acute infection to long-term recovery. Some of the individual studies were small, involving as few as 10 participants, while others evaluated more than 200 patients.
By pooling the results, the researchers identified consistent patterns of abnormalities across several key brain regions. The frontal lobe, which handles decision-making and cognitive control, frequently showed structural changes. The temporal and parietal lobes, areas involved in sensory processing and attention, also exhibited noticeable differences in patients who had recovered from the virus.
Structural changes in the frontal lobe might explain the loss of top-down cognitive control observed in some patients. The researchers note that the prefrontal cortex is highly sensitive to psychosocial stress. This means the stress of the pandemic itself, alongside the biological infection, might contribute to these structural shifts.
The temporal lobe includes areas like Heschl’s gyrus, a region that processes auditory information. Patients recovering from COVID-19 often experience difficulties processing sound, which can contribute to chronic fatigue as the brain works harder during daily listening activities. The parietal lobe, a region involved in visual and spatial attention, also showed structural changes linked to impaired attention allocation.
In many of these regions, COVID-19 patients displayed a reduction in overall gray matter volume and a thinning of the outer cortical layer. This tissue loss could result from reduced oxygen supply or severe immune system inflammation during the infection. Conversely, a few studies reported localized increases in gray matter volume. The researchers suggest this could represent temporary swelling caused by vascular injury, or it could be the brain’s attempt to compensate for damaged tissue by growing new neural connections.
The review highlighted extensive structural issues in the brain’s white matter. To measure this, scientists track the microscopic diffusion of water molecules along nerve fibers. In COVID-19 patients, this water movement was often abnormal, indicating that the protective coating around the nerve fibers had degraded. These microscopic changes were present even in patients who experienced only mild to moderate respiratory symptoms and had otherwise normal-looking gray matter on standard medical scans.
Functional imaging scans revealed altered patterns of spontaneous brain activity. When patients were simply resting in the scanner, their brains showed abnormal synchronization between different regions. The limbic system, a network of deep brain structures including the insula, hippocampus, and amygdala, frequently exhibited connectivity issues. Because these areas regulate emotion and memory, functional disruptions here often correlated with clinical symptoms like anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress.
When patients were asked to perform working memory tasks during their scans, their brains displayed altered activation patterns. This suggests that the nervous system had to reorganize its resources to maintain normal cognitive performance. Other functional scans focused on the olfactory network, the brain regions responsible for processing smell. Patients suffering from a persistent loss of smell showed disrupted connectivity in this specific network, which also correlated with lower scores on short-term verbal memory tests.
Tests measuring cerebral blood flow found lower than normal circulation in several brain areas, including the frontal and temporal lobes. This restricted blood supply limits the delivery of oxygen and nutrients, which might contribute to difficulties with attention, language processing, and executive function. The review found that deep subcortical nuclei, such as the thalamus, were particularly vulnerable to this reduced blood flow. These deep relay centers have high metabolic demands and rely on adjacent blood vessels that lack secondary backup circulation.
The reviewed studies rely heavily on cross-sectional data, meaning they capture a single snapshot of the brain after infection rather than tracking changes over an extended period. Because the vast majority of these studies lack pre-infection baseline brain scans, it is difficult to prove definitively that COVID-19 directly caused all the observed changes. Individual biological differences present before the pandemic might account for some of the variations in brain structure and function.
The researchers point out that the clinical status of the patients varied widely across the studies. Grouping together individuals with acute infections and those experiencing long-term recovery makes it challenging to isolate how the brain heals over time. Some studies also focused only on specific, predefined brain regions rather than scanning the entire brain. This targeted approach can artificially inflate the statistical differences between patients and healthy controls.
Future research utilizing unbiased, whole-brain analyses and long-term tracking could map the specific trajectory of these neurological changes. Additional follow-up investigations are required to clarify whether COVID-19-related brain alterations are permanent, or if they are reversible with therapeutic interventions and time.
The study, “Widespread structural and functional brain alterations in COVID-19: a systematic review of MRI studies,” was authored by Li Chen, Huan Lan, Wenxiong Liu, Chao Zuo, Graham J. Kemp, Song Wang, Qiyong Gong, and Xueling Suo.
-------------------------------------------------
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-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #COVID19brainchanges #neuroimaging #brainfog #frontallobe #temporalparietallobe #graymatterloss #white matterintegrity #functionalMRI #neuroinflammation #CerebralCortexstudy
-
DATE: August 7, 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: Brain wiring patterns linked to harm avoidance in obsessive-compulsive disorder
Researchers have identified a specific pattern of brain wiring associated with the tendency to excessively avoid potential harm, a common trait in obsessive-compulsive disorder and other psychiatric conditions. The study, published in Neuropsychopharmacology, shows that denser microscopic connections between two distinct brain regions relate to higher levels of this avoidance behavior across different diagnostic groups. These structural brain differences offer a biological target for researchers developing future psychiatric treatments.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder involves intrusive thoughts and repetitive behaviors. Two primary dimensions often drive these symptoms. One is harm avoidance, an intense sensitivity to potential threats and an urge to prevent them. The other is incompleteness, a persistent feeling that things are imperfect or not quite right.
These traits are not exclusive to obsessive-compulsive disorder. Harm avoidance frequently occurs in anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder. Incompleteness is a hallmark symptom of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, a distinct condition characterized by rigid perfectionism and a need for control.
Because these behavioral traits appear across various mental health conditions, researchers suspect they might share common biological roots in the brain. Previous brain imaging studies hinted at a relationship between the prefrontal cortex and the severity of these symptoms. The prefrontal cortex is the area of the brain that handles high-level cognitive functions, including risk assessment and emotional regulation.
University of Pittsburgh psychiatry researcher João Paulo Lima Santos led a team to investigate the brain architecture underlying these specific behavioral traits. Along with senior researchers Steven A. Rasmussen and Mary L. Phillips, Lima Santos aimed to replicate earlier findings in a new group of participants. The researchers also wanted to see if these brain patterns appear in people with other psychiatric diagnoses, pointing to a universal biological mechanism.
The study utilized diffusion magnetic resonance imaging, a specialized scanning technique. This technology allows researchers to map white matter in the brain. White matter consists of the insulated nerve fibers that act as communication cables, transmitting signals between different brain regions.
Through a computational process called whole-brain tractography, algorithms trace the path of water molecules as they diffuse along these nerve fibers. Because water moves more easily along the length of a fiber rather than across its boundaries, mapping this diffusion reveals the brain’s internal wiring diagram.
The research team focused on tracts connecting the prefrontal cortex to subcortical regions deep within the brain. Specifically, they looked at the thalamus, which acts as the brain’s central relay station for sensory and motor signals. They also examined connections to the striatum, a cluster of neurons involved in reward processing and habit formation.
To quantify the microscopic structure of these connections, the scientists measured fractional anisotropy. This metric indicates the density and directional alignment of white matter fibers. Higher fractional anisotropy suggests a denser, more structurally organized bundle of nerve connections.
The researchers recruited a diverse set of participants for their primary analysis. This included a small study group of 38 healthy controls and another group of 47 individuals diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Participants completed specialized clinical questionnaires to measure their baseline levels of harm avoidance and incompleteness.
In their first statistical model, the researchers analyzed the healthy controls and the participants with obsessive-compulsive disorder. They found that higher fractional anisotropy in the connections between the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and the thalamus related to higher levels of harm avoidance. This pattern appeared in both the left and right hemispheres of the brain.
The dorsomedial prefrontal cortex is heavily involved in evaluating situational demands and preparing responses to potential threats. A denser connection between this area and the thalamus might reflect an overactive system for perceiving danger. This heightened sensitivity could biologically drive the behavioral patterns of harm avoidance.
In the same group, the researchers also looked at the feeling of incompleteness. They observed that higher fractional anisotropy in the left dorsomedial prefrontal-thalamic connection was associated with higher incompleteness scores. The team found no statistical relationship between prefrontal-striatum connections and either symptom dimension.
The researchers looked at other secondary metrics of water diffusion in the brain, including radial diffusivity and axial diffusivity. These additional metrics yielded no statistical associations with the behavioral traits.
Next, the researchers expanded their analysis to test whether these structural associations exist outside of typical obsessive-compulsive disorder. They added a small group of 21 participants diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. In this expanded pool, the structural links to both harm avoidance and incompleteness remained the same.
The team then added another 20 participants who had non-obsessive-compulsive psychiatric conditions, such as panic disorder, social anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. In this broader group, the association between both the left and right dorsomedial prefrontal-thalamic connections and harm avoidance persisted. The link to incompleteness was not statistically significant in this specific model.
To test the robustness of their findings, the scientists created a final, combined dataset. They merged their current participants with data from an older, original study pool containing 42 healthy controls and 44 people with obsessive-compulsive disorder. This created a much larger and more clinically diverse sample.
In this combined analysis, higher fractional anisotropy in the left dorsomedial prefrontal-thalamic connection once again tracked with higher levels of both harm avoidance and incompleteness. The connection in the right hemisphere lost its statistical association with harm avoidance in this expanded group.
Across all the different models, the connection in the left hemisphere consistently predicted the severity of harm avoidance. This persistence suggests that the left prefrontal-thalamic pathway might serve as a universal biological mechanism for threat sensitivity across different psychiatric populations. The right hemisphere connection appears more sensitive to the specific makeup or severity of the patient group.
The study design is observational and prevents researchers from determining cause and effect. It is unclear if denser white matter tracts cause heightened threat sensitivity or if a lifetime of hypervigilant behavior alters the brain’s physical structure.
The participant groups for the individual psychiatric conditions were relatively small. These small sample sizes limit the statistical power of the specific within-group analyses. Larger studies with greater variability in symptom severity are necessary to confirm these structural brain patterns.
The researchers used automated software to label the different regions of the brain. While standard in the neuroimaging field, this automated method might miss subtle anatomical differences between individual people. Future research could combine automated tools with individualized brain mapping for greater precision.
The neuroimaging protocol relied on single-shell diffusion magnetic resonance imaging. This older scanning method captures less microscopic detail than newer multi-shell techniques. More advanced imaging could provide a more nuanced picture of the specific white matter fiber segments involved in these psychiatric conditions.
While the researchers found that current psychiatric medications did not alter the results, the study did not track long-term medication use. Future longitudinal studies will need to monitor how pharmaceutical treatments might physically change these white matter connections over time.
The study, “Medial prefrontal-thalamic white matter microstructure is associated with harm avoidance in OCD: a discovery and transdiagnostic replication study,” was authored by João Paulo Lima Santos, Amelia Versace, Manan Arora, Michele A. Bertocci, Henry W. Chase, Simona Graur, Lisa Bonar, Chiara Maffei, Anastasia Yendiki, Christina L. Boisseau, Suzanne N. Haber, Steven A. Rasmussen, and Mary L. Phillips.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #harmavoidance #OCD #prefrontalthalamicconnection #white matter #diffusionMRI #neuroimaging #mentalhealthresearch #transdiagnostic #dorsomedialPFC #brainwiring
-
DATE: August 7, 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: Brain wiring patterns linked to harm avoidance in obsessive-compulsive disorder
Researchers have identified a specific pattern of brain wiring associated with the tendency to excessively avoid potential harm, a common trait in obsessive-compulsive disorder and other psychiatric conditions. The study, published in Neuropsychopharmacology, shows that denser microscopic connections between two distinct brain regions relate to higher levels of this avoidance behavior across different diagnostic groups. These structural brain differences offer a biological target for researchers developing future psychiatric treatments.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder involves intrusive thoughts and repetitive behaviors. Two primary dimensions often drive these symptoms. One is harm avoidance, an intense sensitivity to potential threats and an urge to prevent them. The other is incompleteness, a persistent feeling that things are imperfect or not quite right.
These traits are not exclusive to obsessive-compulsive disorder. Harm avoidance frequently occurs in anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder. Incompleteness is a hallmark symptom of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, a distinct condition characterized by rigid perfectionism and a need for control.
Because these behavioral traits appear across various mental health conditions, researchers suspect they might share common biological roots in the brain. Previous brain imaging studies hinted at a relationship between the prefrontal cortex and the severity of these symptoms. The prefrontal cortex is the area of the brain that handles high-level cognitive functions, including risk assessment and emotional regulation.
University of Pittsburgh psychiatry researcher João Paulo Lima Santos led a team to investigate the brain architecture underlying these specific behavioral traits. Along with senior researchers Steven A. Rasmussen and Mary L. Phillips, Lima Santos aimed to replicate earlier findings in a new group of participants. The researchers also wanted to see if these brain patterns appear in people with other psychiatric diagnoses, pointing to a universal biological mechanism.
The study utilized diffusion magnetic resonance imaging, a specialized scanning technique. This technology allows researchers to map white matter in the brain. White matter consists of the insulated nerve fibers that act as communication cables, transmitting signals between different brain regions.
Through a computational process called whole-brain tractography, algorithms trace the path of water molecules as they diffuse along these nerve fibers. Because water moves more easily along the length of a fiber rather than across its boundaries, mapping this diffusion reveals the brain’s internal wiring diagram.
The research team focused on tracts connecting the prefrontal cortex to subcortical regions deep within the brain. Specifically, they looked at the thalamus, which acts as the brain’s central relay station for sensory and motor signals. They also examined connections to the striatum, a cluster of neurons involved in reward processing and habit formation.
To quantify the microscopic structure of these connections, the scientists measured fractional anisotropy. This metric indicates the density and directional alignment of white matter fibers. Higher fractional anisotropy suggests a denser, more structurally organized bundle of nerve connections.
The researchers recruited a diverse set of participants for their primary analysis. This included a small study group of 38 healthy controls and another group of 47 individuals diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Participants completed specialized clinical questionnaires to measure their baseline levels of harm avoidance and incompleteness.
In their first statistical model, the researchers analyzed the healthy controls and the participants with obsessive-compulsive disorder. They found that higher fractional anisotropy in the connections between the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and the thalamus related to higher levels of harm avoidance. This pattern appeared in both the left and right hemispheres of the brain.
The dorsomedial prefrontal cortex is heavily involved in evaluating situational demands and preparing responses to potential threats. A denser connection between this area and the thalamus might reflect an overactive system for perceiving danger. This heightened sensitivity could biologically drive the behavioral patterns of harm avoidance.
In the same group, the researchers also looked at the feeling of incompleteness. They observed that higher fractional anisotropy in the left dorsomedial prefrontal-thalamic connection was associated with higher incompleteness scores. The team found no statistical relationship between prefrontal-striatum connections and either symptom dimension.
The researchers looked at other secondary metrics of water diffusion in the brain, including radial diffusivity and axial diffusivity. These additional metrics yielded no statistical associations with the behavioral traits.
Next, the researchers expanded their analysis to test whether these structural associations exist outside of typical obsessive-compulsive disorder. They added a small group of 21 participants diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. In this expanded pool, the structural links to both harm avoidance and incompleteness remained the same.
The team then added another 20 participants who had non-obsessive-compulsive psychiatric conditions, such as panic disorder, social anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. In this broader group, the association between both the left and right dorsomedial prefrontal-thalamic connections and harm avoidance persisted. The link to incompleteness was not statistically significant in this specific model.
To test the robustness of their findings, the scientists created a final, combined dataset. They merged their current participants with data from an older, original study pool containing 42 healthy controls and 44 people with obsessive-compulsive disorder. This created a much larger and more clinically diverse sample.
In this combined analysis, higher fractional anisotropy in the left dorsomedial prefrontal-thalamic connection once again tracked with higher levels of both harm avoidance and incompleteness. The connection in the right hemisphere lost its statistical association with harm avoidance in this expanded group.
Across all the different models, the connection in the left hemisphere consistently predicted the severity of harm avoidance. This persistence suggests that the left prefrontal-thalamic pathway might serve as a universal biological mechanism for threat sensitivity across different psychiatric populations. The right hemisphere connection appears more sensitive to the specific makeup or severity of the patient group.
The study design is observational and prevents researchers from determining cause and effect. It is unclear if denser white matter tracts cause heightened threat sensitivity or if a lifetime of hypervigilant behavior alters the brain’s physical structure.
The participant groups for the individual psychiatric conditions were relatively small. These small sample sizes limit the statistical power of the specific within-group analyses. Larger studies with greater variability in symptom severity are necessary to confirm these structural brain patterns.
The researchers used automated software to label the different regions of the brain. While standard in the neuroimaging field, this automated method might miss subtle anatomical differences between individual people. Future research could combine automated tools with individualized brain mapping for greater precision.
The neuroimaging protocol relied on single-shell diffusion magnetic resonance imaging. This older scanning method captures less microscopic detail than newer multi-shell techniques. More advanced imaging could provide a more nuanced picture of the specific white matter fiber segments involved in these psychiatric conditions.
While the researchers found that current psychiatric medications did not alter the results, the study did not track long-term medication use. Future longitudinal studies will need to monitor how pharmaceutical treatments might physically change these white matter connections over time.
The study, “Medial prefrontal-thalamic white matter microstructure is associated with harm avoidance in OCD: a discovery and transdiagnostic replication study,” was authored by João Paulo Lima Santos, Amelia Versace, Manan Arora, Michele A. Bertocci, Henry W. Chase, Simona Graur, Lisa Bonar, Chiara Maffei, Anastasia Yendiki, Christina L. Boisseau, Suzanne N. Haber, Steven A. Rasmussen, and Mary L. Phillips.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #harmavoidance #OCD #prefrontalthalamicconnection #white matter #diffusionMRI #neuroimaging #mentalhealthresearch #transdiagnostic #dorsomedialPFC #brainwiring
-
DATE: August 6, 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: ADHD medication helps children focus by stabilizing brain networks, new study suggests
URL: https://www.psypost.org/adhd-medication-helps-children-focus-by-stabilizing-brain-networks/
A small study shows that a common medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder helps children focus by stabilizing how different brain regions communicate with one another. The research, published in Translational Psychiatry, suggests that this brain stabilization is tied directly to better attention and task performance.
The brain constantly balances two opposing states, known as flexibility and stability. Flexibility allows a person to easily switch between different tasks or thoughts. Stability allows a person to ignore distractions and maintain focus on a single goal.
Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, often struggle to maintain this balance. Their brain networks tend to change connections more rapidly. This frequent shifting can manifest as fluctuating attention, impulsive actions, and heightened sensitivity to rewards.
Foundational models of the disorder suggest that these symptoms arise from disruptions in specific neurological circuits. One circuit orients attention through executive control, while another tunes sensitivity to rewards through motivational control. Because these disruptions are widespread across multiple brain systems, looking at how the entire brain communicates is necessary to understand the condition.
Methylphenidate is a common first-line treatment for the disorder. The drug works by blocking the reuptake of dopamine and norepinephrine, which increases the levels of these chemical messengers in the brain. Dopamine and norepinephrine help regulate attention, executive control, and motivation.
The medication effectively reduces symptoms for many children, but up to 30 percent of patients do not experience improvements. A better understanding of how the drug alters brain function on a mechanical level is necessary to explain this variation in effectiveness.
Tehila Nugiel, a psychology researcher at Florida State University, led a team to investigate how methylphenidate influences the balance of brain flexibility and stability. The researchers suspected that the medication might reduce the rapid shifting of brain network connections, driving the brain into a more stable state.
Historically, researchers looked at brain connectivity by averaging activity over several minutes. Newer mathematical methods allow scientists to model how these networks reconfigure on a second-by-second basis. This high-resolution timeline is better suited for capturing the fleeting shifts in focus that characterize the disorder.
To test their hypothesis, the researchers designed a small study involving 31 children between the ages of 8 and 12 who had been diagnosed with ADHD. None of the participants had ever taken stimulant medication before.
Each child visited a laboratory for two separate brain scanning sessions, spaced about a week apart. One hour before entering the magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, scanner, the children received either a single dose of methylphenidate or a placebo pill. Neither the researchers nor the children knew which pill was given on which day.
Inside the scanner, the children completed a standard test of sustained attention and impulse control. They viewed a series of sports balls on a screen and were instructed to press a button for certain balls and withhold their press for others. This tests a person’s ability to maintain focus without any external incentives.
After the standard version, the children completed a rewarded version of the same task. In this round, they saw feedback after each image, earning pennies for fast, correct responses and for correctly withholding a button press. The rewarded task tests how the brain adapts when performance is tied to an immediate, tangible benefit.
While the children completed these tasks, the researchers recorded their brain activity. Functional MRI tracks blood oxygen changes in the brain, allowing scientists to see which areas are communicating at any given moment. The researchers calculated whole brain flexibility, which measures how frequently different regions of the brain change their functional connections over short timescales.
The researchers also tracked behavioral performance during the scanning sessions. They measured response time variability, which indicates fluctuations in attention, and overall task accuracy.
When the children took methylphenidate, their whole brain flexibility decreased during both tasks. The connection patterns between different brain regions became more stable and persisted for longer periods of time.
This stabilization in the brain matched improvements in behavior. On the medication, the children displayed steadier attention, meaning their response times were less erratic on both tasks. They also achieved higher overall accuracy during the rewarded task.
To understand how the drug affected each child personally, the researchers compared the change in brain activity to the change in test scores. They found a direct relationship between the neural changes and the behavioral improvements. The individuals who experienced the largest decreases in brain flexibility on the medication also showed the greatest improvements in steady attention and accuracy.
These findings provide a biological explanation for how the medication aids cognition. By stabilizing whole brain network dynamics, the drug appears to reduce the neurological noise that often disrupts focus.
There are a few caveats to consider regarding the study design. The experiment involved a single dose of medication given to children who had never taken stimulants. Chronic use of the drug over months or years might alter brain network dynamics differently than an acute dose.
Additionally, the tests performed inside an MRI scanner isolate very specific cognitive processes. These controlled tasks do not perfectly mimic the complicated, distracting environments that children navigate in their daily lives.
The results also highlight notable individual differences among the participants. While the medication stabilized the brain and improved performance for most of the children, a small subset experienced the opposite effect. For these children, the drug increased brain flexibility and led to poorer task performance.
This variation offers a potential clue as to why stimulants fail to reduce symptoms in some individuals. Future research involving larger groups of participants could help scientists predict which patients will benefit from the medication and which might respond better to alternative treatments.
The study, “Methylphenidate stabilizes dynamic brain network organization during tasks probing attention and reward processing in stimulant-naïve children with ADHD,” was authored by Tehila Nugiel, Nicholas D. Fogleman, Monica G. Lyons, Margaret A. Sheridan, and Jessica R. Cohen.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/adhd-medication-helps-children-focus-by-stabilizing-brain-networks/
-------------------------------------------------
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #ADHD #Methylphenidate #BrainNetworks #AttentionFocus #Neuroscience # ADHDResearch #StimulantMedication #ExecutiveFunction #RewardProcessing #Neuroimaging
-
DATE: August 6, 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: ADHD medication helps children focus by stabilizing brain networks, new study suggests
URL: https://www.psypost.org/adhd-medication-helps-children-focus-by-stabilizing-brain-networks/
A small study shows that a common medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder helps children focus by stabilizing how different brain regions communicate with one another. The research, published in Translational Psychiatry, suggests that this brain stabilization is tied directly to better attention and task performance.
The brain constantly balances two opposing states, known as flexibility and stability. Flexibility allows a person to easily switch between different tasks or thoughts. Stability allows a person to ignore distractions and maintain focus on a single goal.
Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, often struggle to maintain this balance. Their brain networks tend to change connections more rapidly. This frequent shifting can manifest as fluctuating attention, impulsive actions, and heightened sensitivity to rewards.
Foundational models of the disorder suggest that these symptoms arise from disruptions in specific neurological circuits. One circuit orients attention through executive control, while another tunes sensitivity to rewards through motivational control. Because these disruptions are widespread across multiple brain systems, looking at how the entire brain communicates is necessary to understand the condition.
Methylphenidate is a common first-line treatment for the disorder. The drug works by blocking the reuptake of dopamine and norepinephrine, which increases the levels of these chemical messengers in the brain. Dopamine and norepinephrine help regulate attention, executive control, and motivation.
The medication effectively reduces symptoms for many children, but up to 30 percent of patients do not experience improvements. A better understanding of how the drug alters brain function on a mechanical level is necessary to explain this variation in effectiveness.
Tehila Nugiel, a psychology researcher at Florida State University, led a team to investigate how methylphenidate influences the balance of brain flexibility and stability. The researchers suspected that the medication might reduce the rapid shifting of brain network connections, driving the brain into a more stable state.
Historically, researchers looked at brain connectivity by averaging activity over several minutes. Newer mathematical methods allow scientists to model how these networks reconfigure on a second-by-second basis. This high-resolution timeline is better suited for capturing the fleeting shifts in focus that characterize the disorder.
To test their hypothesis, the researchers designed a small study involving 31 children between the ages of 8 and 12 who had been diagnosed with ADHD. None of the participants had ever taken stimulant medication before.
Each child visited a laboratory for two separate brain scanning sessions, spaced about a week apart. One hour before entering the magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, scanner, the children received either a single dose of methylphenidate or a placebo pill. Neither the researchers nor the children knew which pill was given on which day.
Inside the scanner, the children completed a standard test of sustained attention and impulse control. They viewed a series of sports balls on a screen and were instructed to press a button for certain balls and withhold their press for others. This tests a person’s ability to maintain focus without any external incentives.
After the standard version, the children completed a rewarded version of the same task. In this round, they saw feedback after each image, earning pennies for fast, correct responses and for correctly withholding a button press. The rewarded task tests how the brain adapts when performance is tied to an immediate, tangible benefit.
While the children completed these tasks, the researchers recorded their brain activity. Functional MRI tracks blood oxygen changes in the brain, allowing scientists to see which areas are communicating at any given moment. The researchers calculated whole brain flexibility, which measures how frequently different regions of the brain change their functional connections over short timescales.
The researchers also tracked behavioral performance during the scanning sessions. They measured response time variability, which indicates fluctuations in attention, and overall task accuracy.
When the children took methylphenidate, their whole brain flexibility decreased during both tasks. The connection patterns between different brain regions became more stable and persisted for longer periods of time.
This stabilization in the brain matched improvements in behavior. On the medication, the children displayed steadier attention, meaning their response times were less erratic on both tasks. They also achieved higher overall accuracy during the rewarded task.
To understand how the drug affected each child personally, the researchers compared the change in brain activity to the change in test scores. They found a direct relationship between the neural changes and the behavioral improvements. The individuals who experienced the largest decreases in brain flexibility on the medication also showed the greatest improvements in steady attention and accuracy.
These findings provide a biological explanation for how the medication aids cognition. By stabilizing whole brain network dynamics, the drug appears to reduce the neurological noise that often disrupts focus.
There are a few caveats to consider regarding the study design. The experiment involved a single dose of medication given to children who had never taken stimulants. Chronic use of the drug over months or years might alter brain network dynamics differently than an acute dose.
Additionally, the tests performed inside an MRI scanner isolate very specific cognitive processes. These controlled tasks do not perfectly mimic the complicated, distracting environments that children navigate in their daily lives.
The results also highlight notable individual differences among the participants. While the medication stabilized the brain and improved performance for most of the children, a small subset experienced the opposite effect. For these children, the drug increased brain flexibility and led to poorer task performance.
This variation offers a potential clue as to why stimulants fail to reduce symptoms in some individuals. Future research involving larger groups of participants could help scientists predict which patients will benefit from the medication and which might respond better to alternative treatments.
The study, “Methylphenidate stabilizes dynamic brain network organization during tasks probing attention and reward processing in stimulant-naïve children with ADHD,” was authored by Tehila Nugiel, Nicholas D. Fogleman, Monica G. Lyons, Margaret A. Sheridan, and Jessica R. Cohen.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/adhd-medication-helps-children-focus-by-stabilizing-brain-networks/
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #ADHD #Methylphenidate #BrainNetworks #AttentionFocus #Neuroscience # ADHDResearch #StimulantMedication #ExecutiveFunction #RewardProcessing #Neuroimaging
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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.
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-------------------------------------------------
#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.
-------------------------------------------------
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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 #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #Inflammation #WhiteMatter #BrainConnectivity #Neuroimaging #Psychoneuroendocrinology #InflammatoryBiomarkers #IL6 #CRP #MentalHealthResearch
-
DATE: July 27, 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: Brain structure differences in autism map onto serotonin receptor locations
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-structure-differences-in-autism-map-onto-serotonin-receptor-locations/
A neuroimaging study found that autistic individuals whose cortical thickness deviated most from that of neurotypical peers tended to experience greater social and communication difficulties. In autistic individuals, the cortical regions showing the greatest differences in thickness relative to neurotypical individuals also tended to have a higher density of serotonin receptors. The research provides evidence linking brain structure, neurochemistry, and behavioral traits in autism. The paper was published in Autism Research.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects how a person communicates, interacts with others, processes sensory information, and experiences the world. It is called a spectrum because its characteristics and level of support needs vary widely between individuals.
Some autistic people have difficulty interpreting social cues, maintaining conversations, or understanding unwritten social rules. Others are able to communicate fluently but still find social interaction tiring, confusing, or overwhelming. Repetitive movements, strong preferences for routines, intense interests, and unusual responses to sounds, lights, textures, or smells are also common.
Autism begins early in development, although it may not be recognized until later in childhood or adulthood. It is a lifelong form of neurological difference that may bring both difficulties and strengths. Many autistic people show beneficial qualities such as strong attention to detail, deep knowledge in areas of interest, logical thinking, creativity, or exceptional memory.
Study author Livio Tarchi and his colleagues note that previous research indicates consistent structural differences between the brains of individuals with autism and their neurotypical peers. The authors suggest these differences might be connected to the brain’s neurotransmitter systems. Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that carry signals between brain cells. The researchers specifically focused on systems using serotonin, dopamine, and glutamate.
The scientists investigated how structural differences in the brain might map onto the spatial distribution of these chemical messengers. They analyzed data from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange. This public dataset contains physical measurements, behavioral assessments, and brain scans collected across twenty different sites.
The data used in this analysis came from 1,035 participants. The sample included 505 autistic individuals and 530 neurotypical individuals. The average age of participants was about 17 years old. Both groups were predominantly male, reflecting historical diagnosis patterns.
The study authors used structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data to calculate deviations from expected cortical thickness. Cortical thickness refers to the depth of the brain’s outer layer of gray matter, which is responsible for complex thought and sensory processing. They measured this thickness across thousands of individual points, called vertices, on the surface of the brain. These measurements were adjusted for both the sex and age of each participant.
Next, the researchers compared these structural measurements against reference maps of neurotransmitter receptor density. Receptors are protein structures on cells that receive chemical messages. These reference maps were derived from separate, previously published imaging studies. This allowed the authors to see if areas with unusual thickness in autistic individuals aligned with regions known to have high concentrations of specific neurotransmitters.
The results showed widespread deviations in cortical thickness in the brains of autistic participants compared to neurotypical participants. The structural differences tended to be larger in areas of the brain with a higher density of serotonin receptors. The researchers did not find a similar spatial link for dopamine or glutamate receptors. At the individual level, greater deviations in cortical thickness were associated with greater difficulties in social and communication domains.
These findings provide evidence for a neurobiological link between autism, brain structure, and serotonin. However, the participants in this study were mostly male. Because brain development and cortical thickness can vary by sex, studies involving more female participants might yield different results. Future research could help clarify these connections and guide tailored support strategies for autistic individuals.
The paper, “Autism and Cortical Thickness Deviation From Neurotypical Controls: Evidence for a Spatial Association With Serotonin Receptors,” was authored by Livio Tarchi, Arne Doose, Julius Hennig, Fabio Bernardoni, Joseph A. King, Tiziana Pisano, Giovanni Castellini, Valdo Ricca, Inge Kamp-Becker, and Stefan Ehrlich.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-structure-differences-in-autism-map-onto-serotonin-receptor-locations/
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-
DATE: July 27, 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: Brain structure differences in autism map onto serotonin receptor locations
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-structure-differences-in-autism-map-onto-serotonin-receptor-locations/
A neuroimaging study found that autistic individuals whose cortical thickness deviated most from that of neurotypical peers tended to experience greater social and communication difficulties. In autistic individuals, the cortical regions showing the greatest differences in thickness relative to neurotypical individuals also tended to have a higher density of serotonin receptors. The research provides evidence linking brain structure, neurochemistry, and behavioral traits in autism. The paper was published in Autism Research.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects how a person communicates, interacts with others, processes sensory information, and experiences the world. It is called a spectrum because its characteristics and level of support needs vary widely between individuals.
Some autistic people have difficulty interpreting social cues, maintaining conversations, or understanding unwritten social rules. Others are able to communicate fluently but still find social interaction tiring, confusing, or overwhelming. Repetitive movements, strong preferences for routines, intense interests, and unusual responses to sounds, lights, textures, or smells are also common.
Autism begins early in development, although it may not be recognized until later in childhood or adulthood. It is a lifelong form of neurological difference that may bring both difficulties and strengths. Many autistic people show beneficial qualities such as strong attention to detail, deep knowledge in areas of interest, logical thinking, creativity, or exceptional memory.
Study author Livio Tarchi and his colleagues note that previous research indicates consistent structural differences between the brains of individuals with autism and their neurotypical peers. The authors suggest these differences might be connected to the brain’s neurotransmitter systems. Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that carry signals between brain cells. The researchers specifically focused on systems using serotonin, dopamine, and glutamate.
The scientists investigated how structural differences in the brain might map onto the spatial distribution of these chemical messengers. They analyzed data from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange. This public dataset contains physical measurements, behavioral assessments, and brain scans collected across twenty different sites.
The data used in this analysis came from 1,035 participants. The sample included 505 autistic individuals and 530 neurotypical individuals. The average age of participants was about 17 years old. Both groups were predominantly male, reflecting historical diagnosis patterns.
The study authors used structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data to calculate deviations from expected cortical thickness. Cortical thickness refers to the depth of the brain’s outer layer of gray matter, which is responsible for complex thought and sensory processing. They measured this thickness across thousands of individual points, called vertices, on the surface of the brain. These measurements were adjusted for both the sex and age of each participant.
Next, the researchers compared these structural measurements against reference maps of neurotransmitter receptor density. Receptors are protein structures on cells that receive chemical messages. These reference maps were derived from separate, previously published imaging studies. This allowed the authors to see if areas with unusual thickness in autistic individuals aligned with regions known to have high concentrations of specific neurotransmitters.
The results showed widespread deviations in cortical thickness in the brains of autistic participants compared to neurotypical participants. The structural differences tended to be larger in areas of the brain with a higher density of serotonin receptors. The researchers did not find a similar spatial link for dopamine or glutamate receptors. At the individual level, greater deviations in cortical thickness were associated with greater difficulties in social and communication domains.
These findings provide evidence for a neurobiological link between autism, brain structure, and serotonin. However, the participants in this study were mostly male. Because brain development and cortical thickness can vary by sex, studies involving more female participants might yield different results. Future research could help clarify these connections and guide tailored support strategies for autistic individuals.
The paper, “Autism and Cortical Thickness Deviation From Neurotypical Controls: Evidence for a Spatial Association With Serotonin Receptors,” was authored by Livio Tarchi, Arne Doose, Julius Hennig, Fabio Bernardoni, Joseph A. King, Tiziana Pisano, Giovanni Castellini, Valdo Ricca, Inge Kamp-Becker, and Stefan Ehrlich.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-structure-differences-in-autism-map-onto-serotonin-receptor-locations/
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #AutismBrain #CorticalThickness #SerotoninReceptors #Neuroimaging #AutismResearch #Neurodevelopment #BrainStructure #SocialCommunication #NeurotypicalVsAutistic #SerotoninMapping
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DATE: July 24, 2026 at 08:00AM
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: Learning a new skill triggers both temporary cell swelling and lasting structural growth in the human brain
A new study published in PLoS Biology has found that learning a new motor skill sets off two different types of cellular changes in the human brain. The findings suggest that the brain experiences a temporary swelling of cell bodies followed by a long-lasting growth of cellular extensions in specific regions. This dual response offers a deeper understanding of how the human brain physically adapts when we learn something new.
Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to remodel its physical structure in response to new experiences. This biological process supports learning and memory, and it also influences a person’s vulnerability to neurological conditions.
Valeria Della-Maggiore, an associate professor at the National University of San Martin and the University of Buenos Aires, led the research. She also serves as an adjunct professor at McGill University and directs the Physiology of Action Lab.
“Structural plasticity, the brain’s ability to remodel its connections in response to experience, is fundamental to learning and memory and shapes development and degenerative disorders,” she told PsyPost. She explained that most human studies over the past two decades have used standard MRI protocols to detect changes in brain microstructure, assuming these changes were always plastic in nature.
“Yet animal studies show that cells may undergo structural changes that do not always reflect synapse remodeling,” Della-Maggiore said. “To disambiguate plastic from non-plastic processes, we combined ultra-high-gradient diffusion MRI with SANDI, a biophysical model that allows making inferences at the level of cellular compartments, that is, cell bodies and cell processes.”
To measure structural changes in humans, scientists have typically relied on a brain scanning technique called diffusion tensor imaging, or DTI. This method measures how water molecules move and diffuse through brain tissue. By tracking this water movement, scientists can infer changes in the brain’s microscopic structure.
DTI blends the signals from various parts of the brain tissue together. “DTI captures a single, global signal: it can tell you that a change in one region lasts longer than in another, but not what underlies it,” Della-Maggiore said. Because of this blending, the technique cannot easily distinguish between a permanent structural change and a temporary biological reaction.
To address this limitation, the authors utilized highly sensitive magnetic resonance imaging paired with the specialized mathematical model called Soma and Neurite Density Imaging, or SANDI. Rather than grouping all tissue signals together, SANDI separates the scanning signals into three distinct categories. These categories include the cell bodies, the cellular extensions called neurites, and the extracellular fluid surrounding the cells.
“This study was only possible through a genuinely multidisciplinary effort, in which neuroscientists, experts in diffusion MRI, mathematicians and modeling specialists, and engineers worked together around a single scientific question,” Della-Maggiore said.
The collaboration included her lab along with the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre. “Bringing these different forms of expertise into alignment is what made it possible to extract biological insight from a non-invasive measurement, something no single discipline could have achieved on its own,” she added.
The study included 29 healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 36, consisting of 16 females and 13 males. All participants were right-handed and reported no history of neurological or psychiatric conditions. They completed a motor sequence learning task involving typing a specific five-number sequence on a keyboard using the four fingers of their left, non-dominant hand. The exact sequence was 4-1-3-2-4, with the number 4 representing the index finger and the number 1 representing the pinky finger.
Participants were instructed to type the sequence as quickly and accurately as possible. They completed 15 practice blocks of this finger-tapping sequence. Each block consisted of 12 sequences and was separated by 25 seconds of rest. The entire training session took about 15 to 20 minutes.
To assess how well the participants retained the skill overnight, they were asked to complete eight additional practice blocks 24 hours later. To track brain activity and physical changes, the scientists used an ultra-high-gradient MRI scanner, which offers exceptional sensitivity for capturing microscopic tissue details. They collected functional MRI scans to measure active brain regions during the task. They also collected advanced diffusion MRI scans at three specific points: before the practice session began, 30 minutes after the practice ended, and 24 hours later.
The behavioral data showed that participants improved their typing speed and accuracy primarily during the short rest periods between practice blocks. The functional brain scans aligned with this observation, revealing increased activity in the brain’s memory and motor regions during these brief breaks. However, the most specific discoveries emerged from the SANDI model used to track cellular changes.
“When you learn a new skill, two processes of different spatial and temporal dynamics take place in your brain at the cellular level,” Della-Maggiore said. “One is transient and occurs at the level of cell bodies, which increase in size across all brain regions engaged by the task. The other is persistent, confined to the regions specifically involved in learning, and occurs at the level of cell processes, compatible with structural plasticity.”
The researchers found that DTI scans alone missed a layer of detail. “Our approach revealed something DTI cannot see, that the regions showing lasting changes also carry a transient response,” Della-Maggiore explained. “In other words, beneath what DTI reads as a single persistent effect, there are in fact two distinct processes unfolding on different timescales.”
Specifically, the researchers found a temporary increase in the apparent density of cell bodies across all the brain areas engaged by the task. These areas included the hippocampus, the primary motor cortex, the posterior parietal cortex, and the precuneus. This physical change was observed 30 minutes after the practice session. By the 24-hour mark, the cell bodies in these regions had returned to their normal baseline size.
“The second [surprise] was the spatial pattern: a transient change at the level of the cell body appeared uniformly across all regions engaged by learning, whereas the sustained change in cellular processes was confined to those regions specific to the learned skill,” Della-Maggiore said. “It was this dissociation, in both space and time, that let us infer different biological processes underlying these responses: a homeostatic process such as swelling of cell bodies induced by increased neuronal activity, and cell-process remodeling mediating genuine structural plasticity.”
The authors propose that this short-lived cell expansion is a temporary biological reaction to balance out intense cellular activity. When brain cells are highly active, they experience an imbalance of ions. To correct this imbalance, water flows into the cells, causing them to temporarily swell.
In addition to the temporary swelling, the SANDI model revealed a second, longer-lasting change in specific areas of the brain. The researchers observed a sustained increase in the density of cellular extensions in the precuneus and the posterior parietal cortex. These cellular extensions include structures like dendrites and axons, which connect different brain cells to one another.
This increase in cellular extensions persisted a full day after the learning task. The researchers noticed a direct link to task performance. “Notably, the more a person improved, the stronger this second change was,” Della-Maggiore said.
Interestingly, this long-lasting structural remodeling did not occur in the hippocampus. The hippocampus is a brain region known for helping encode new memories early in the learning process. The findings suggest that while the hippocampus is engaged initially, the long-term structural changes required to retain a motor skill happen in the outer layers of the brain, known as the cortex.
“The broader message is that a change in brain structure is not, in itself, evidence of learning-related plasticity,” Della-Maggiore said. “Being able to separate these processes in a living brain, non-invasively, provides something that did not exist before in human neuroscience: a mechanistic window onto brain plasticity, allowing us to begin inferring biological mechanisms directly in humans rather than relying on animal models.”
Interpreting these findings requires acknowledging a few limitations related to the scanning technology. The SANDI model estimates relative signal fractions of cell components rather than providing a direct physical measurement of cellular volume. The technique relies on specific mathematical assumptions about how water moves in the brain.
“Our approach does not quantify cells or cell processes directly,” Della-Maggiore explained. “It infers how much different cellular components contribute to the MRI signal, based on a biophysical model whose interpretation is grounded in animal and histological evidence.”
She added that referring to changes in cell bodies or cell processes involves principled inferences, not microscopic observations. “The strength of the method lies in tracking how these signals evolve over time, compared against the person’s own baseline,” she said.
The study focused on a specific finger-tapping task in a small group of healthy young adults. Different types of learning, such as studying a new language or solving complex math problems, might engage different cellular mechanisms. “Our broader aim is to keep refining this approach to probe the biological mechanisms of plasticity in ever greater detail, directly in humans,” Della-Maggiore said.
The researchers hope to apply this multi-compartment imaging approach to other areas of neuroscience. “Beyond learning, distinguishing genuine, adaptive remodeling from other processes could prove valuable in contexts such as development, aging, and disease, including conditions like neurodegeneration or neuroinflammation, where telling apart healthy from harmful structural change is both difficult and clinically important,” she said.
“The results move the field beyond descriptive diffusion changes toward mechanistic inference, which is particularly valuable for studies of learning, development, and disease,” Della-Maggiore concluded.
The study, “Learning engages transient and sustained cellular mechanisms in the human brain,” was authored by Guillermina Griffa, Marco Palombo, Abraham Yeffal, Hong-Hsi Lee, Agustin Solano, Susie Y. Huang, and Valeria Della-Maggiore.
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DATE: July 24, 2026 at 08:00AM
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: Learning a new skill triggers both temporary cell swelling and lasting structural growth in the human brain
A new study published in PLoS Biology has found that learning a new motor skill sets off two different types of cellular changes in the human brain. The findings suggest that the brain experiences a temporary swelling of cell bodies followed by a long-lasting growth of cellular extensions in specific regions. This dual response offers a deeper understanding of how the human brain physically adapts when we learn something new.
Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to remodel its physical structure in response to new experiences. This biological process supports learning and memory, and it also influences a person’s vulnerability to neurological conditions.
Valeria Della-Maggiore, an associate professor at the National University of San Martin and the University of Buenos Aires, led the research. She also serves as an adjunct professor at McGill University and directs the Physiology of Action Lab.
“Structural plasticity, the brain’s ability to remodel its connections in response to experience, is fundamental to learning and memory and shapes development and degenerative disorders,” she told PsyPost. She explained that most human studies over the past two decades have used standard MRI protocols to detect changes in brain microstructure, assuming these changes were always plastic in nature.
“Yet animal studies show that cells may undergo structural changes that do not always reflect synapse remodeling,” Della-Maggiore said. “To disambiguate plastic from non-plastic processes, we combined ultra-high-gradient diffusion MRI with SANDI, a biophysical model that allows making inferences at the level of cellular compartments, that is, cell bodies and cell processes.”
To measure structural changes in humans, scientists have typically relied on a brain scanning technique called diffusion tensor imaging, or DTI. This method measures how water molecules move and diffuse through brain tissue. By tracking this water movement, scientists can infer changes in the brain’s microscopic structure.
DTI blends the signals from various parts of the brain tissue together. “DTI captures a single, global signal: it can tell you that a change in one region lasts longer than in another, but not what underlies it,” Della-Maggiore said. Because of this blending, the technique cannot easily distinguish between a permanent structural change and a temporary biological reaction.
To address this limitation, the authors utilized highly sensitive magnetic resonance imaging paired with the specialized mathematical model called Soma and Neurite Density Imaging, or SANDI. Rather than grouping all tissue signals together, SANDI separates the scanning signals into three distinct categories. These categories include the cell bodies, the cellular extensions called neurites, and the extracellular fluid surrounding the cells.
“This study was only possible through a genuinely multidisciplinary effort, in which neuroscientists, experts in diffusion MRI, mathematicians and modeling specialists, and engineers worked together around a single scientific question,” Della-Maggiore said.
The collaboration included her lab along with the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre. “Bringing these different forms of expertise into alignment is what made it possible to extract biological insight from a non-invasive measurement, something no single discipline could have achieved on its own,” she added.
The study included 29 healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 36, consisting of 16 females and 13 males. All participants were right-handed and reported no history of neurological or psychiatric conditions. They completed a motor sequence learning task involving typing a specific five-number sequence on a keyboard using the four fingers of their left, non-dominant hand. The exact sequence was 4-1-3-2-4, with the number 4 representing the index finger and the number 1 representing the pinky finger.
Participants were instructed to type the sequence as quickly and accurately as possible. They completed 15 practice blocks of this finger-tapping sequence. Each block consisted of 12 sequences and was separated by 25 seconds of rest. The entire training session took about 15 to 20 minutes.
To assess how well the participants retained the skill overnight, they were asked to complete eight additional practice blocks 24 hours later. To track brain activity and physical changes, the scientists used an ultra-high-gradient MRI scanner, which offers exceptional sensitivity for capturing microscopic tissue details. They collected functional MRI scans to measure active brain regions during the task. They also collected advanced diffusion MRI scans at three specific points: before the practice session began, 30 minutes after the practice ended, and 24 hours later.
The behavioral data showed that participants improved their typing speed and accuracy primarily during the short rest periods between practice blocks. The functional brain scans aligned with this observation, revealing increased activity in the brain’s memory and motor regions during these brief breaks. However, the most specific discoveries emerged from the SANDI model used to track cellular changes.
“When you learn a new skill, two processes of different spatial and temporal dynamics take place in your brain at the cellular level,” Della-Maggiore said. “One is transient and occurs at the level of cell bodies, which increase in size across all brain regions engaged by the task. The other is persistent, confined to the regions specifically involved in learning, and occurs at the level of cell processes, compatible with structural plasticity.”
The researchers found that DTI scans alone missed a layer of detail. “Our approach revealed something DTI cannot see, that the regions showing lasting changes also carry a transient response,” Della-Maggiore explained. “In other words, beneath what DTI reads as a single persistent effect, there are in fact two distinct processes unfolding on different timescales.”
Specifically, the researchers found a temporary increase in the apparent density of cell bodies across all the brain areas engaged by the task. These areas included the hippocampus, the primary motor cortex, the posterior parietal cortex, and the precuneus. This physical change was observed 30 minutes after the practice session. By the 24-hour mark, the cell bodies in these regions had returned to their normal baseline size.
“The second [surprise] was the spatial pattern: a transient change at the level of the cell body appeared uniformly across all regions engaged by learning, whereas the sustained change in cellular processes was confined to those regions specific to the learned skill,” Della-Maggiore said. “It was this dissociation, in both space and time, that let us infer different biological processes underlying these responses: a homeostatic process such as swelling of cell bodies induced by increased neuronal activity, and cell-process remodeling mediating genuine structural plasticity.”
The authors propose that this short-lived cell expansion is a temporary biological reaction to balance out intense cellular activity. When brain cells are highly active, they experience an imbalance of ions. To correct this imbalance, water flows into the cells, causing them to temporarily swell.
In addition to the temporary swelling, the SANDI model revealed a second, longer-lasting change in specific areas of the brain. The researchers observed a sustained increase in the density of cellular extensions in the precuneus and the posterior parietal cortex. These cellular extensions include structures like dendrites and axons, which connect different brain cells to one another.
This increase in cellular extensions persisted a full day after the learning task. The researchers noticed a direct link to task performance. “Notably, the more a person improved, the stronger this second change was,” Della-Maggiore said.
Interestingly, this long-lasting structural remodeling did not occur in the hippocampus. The hippocampus is a brain region known for helping encode new memories early in the learning process. The findings suggest that while the hippocampus is engaged initially, the long-term structural changes required to retain a motor skill happen in the outer layers of the brain, known as the cortex.
“The broader message is that a change in brain structure is not, in itself, evidence of learning-related plasticity,” Della-Maggiore said. “Being able to separate these processes in a living brain, non-invasively, provides something that did not exist before in human neuroscience: a mechanistic window onto brain plasticity, allowing us to begin inferring biological mechanisms directly in humans rather than relying on animal models.”
Interpreting these findings requires acknowledging a few limitations related to the scanning technology. The SANDI model estimates relative signal fractions of cell components rather than providing a direct physical measurement of cellular volume. The technique relies on specific mathematical assumptions about how water moves in the brain.
“Our approach does not quantify cells or cell processes directly,” Della-Maggiore explained. “It infers how much different cellular components contribute to the MRI signal, based on a biophysical model whose interpretation is grounded in animal and histological evidence.”
She added that referring to changes in cell bodies or cell processes involves principled inferences, not microscopic observations. “The strength of the method lies in tracking how these signals evolve over time, compared against the person’s own baseline,” she said.
The study focused on a specific finger-tapping task in a small group of healthy young adults. Different types of learning, such as studying a new language or solving complex math problems, might engage different cellular mechanisms. “Our broader aim is to keep refining this approach to probe the biological mechanisms of plasticity in ever greater detail, directly in humans,” Della-Maggiore said.
The researchers hope to apply this multi-compartment imaging approach to other areas of neuroscience. “Beyond learning, distinguishing genuine, adaptive remodeling from other processes could prove valuable in contexts such as development, aging, and disease, including conditions like neurodegeneration or neuroinflammation, where telling apart healthy from harmful structural change is both difficult and clinically important,” she said.
“The results move the field beyond descriptive diffusion changes toward mechanistic inference, which is particularly valuable for studies of learning, development, and disease,” Della-Maggiore concluded.
The study, “Learning engages transient and sustained cellular mechanisms in the human brain,” was authored by Guillermina Griffa, Marco Palombo, Abraham Yeffal, Hong-Hsi Lee, Agustin Solano, Susie Y. Huang, and Valeria Della-Maggiore.
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DATE: July 17, 2026 at 02:00PM
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: Brain structure variations are linked to different types of traumatic memories
New research reveals that the microstructural integrity of specific brain pathways is associated with how intensely a person experiences intrusive memories after a trauma. Published in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, the study suggests that distinct white matter connections correspond to different physical and emotional qualities of these recurring flashbacks.
Trauma-related intrusive memories are spontaneous and emotionally overwhelming sensory recollections. Individuals who experience them often feel as though the traumatic event is occurring in the present moment, blurring the line between past trauma and current reality. These intrusive flashbacks are a defining symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, and they frequently dictate the overall severity of a person’s condition.
Despite the massive impact these intrusive memories have on quality of life, the precise neurobiological mechanisms that govern their unique properties remain poorly understood. Many people experience intrusive memories differently. Some might find that their memories are dominated by intense visual fragments, while others might feel an overwhelming sense of reliving the event physically and emotionally.
To develop better therapeutic interventions, scientists are attempting to understand the exact physical wiring in the brain that supports these varied experiences. Theoretical models propose that the sensory details of traumatic flashbacks stem from a disruption in the way different brain regions communicate.
The hippocampus, a seahorse-shaped region deep in the brain, is fundamentally responsible for forming and retrieving episodic memories. When a memory is recalled, the hippocampus usually communicates with posterior cortical systems. These outer layers of the brain are involved in processing sensory information, reconstructing mental scenes, and maintaining a person’s internal sense of self.
Steven J. Granger, a researcher at McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School, led a team to investigate the structural pathways that bridge these distinct neural systems. The researchers hypothesized that the microscopic organization of these specific cellular pathways might explain why some people have trauma memories characterized primarily by sudden intrusiveness, while others experience memories defined by a profound sense of reliving the event.
The human brain relies on white matter to facilitate this complex communication. White matter tissue acts as a biological scaffolding, built from insulated nerve fibers called axons that bundle together to connect disparate brain regions. These pathways dictate which parts of the brain can interact, controlling the speed and efficiency with which electrical signals travel.
Prior functional brain imaging indicated that the subjective qualities of intrusive memories tend to correspond with how frequently the hippocampus activates alongside other brain networks. Still, the physical structure supporting these functional networks had not yet been evaluated in relation to the everyday experience of traumatic memories.
To capture the true nature of traumatic memories as they happen, Granger and his colleagues recruited 114 adults who had survived a traumatic event. These participants were experiencing regular intrusive memories, and a majority met the criteria for a formal PTSD diagnosis.
Most laboratory studies of trauma rely on asking patients to voluntarily recall their distressing experiences in a clinical setting. To avoid this artificial environment, the research team used a smartphone application to administer periodic surveys to the participants over the course of two weeks.
This technique, known as ecological momentary assessment, allowed the team to track spontaneous memories as they struck in the real world. Several times a day, participants received prompts to report if an intrusive memory had occurred since their last check-in. If they said yes, they immediately rated the memory’s vividness, visual detail, emotional intensity, intrusiveness, and the degree to which they felt they were actively reliving the event.
After the two-week reporting period, the participants underwent a specialized type of magnetic resonance imaging. The researchers used a technique called diffusion-weighted imaging, which tracks the tiny movements of water molecules within brain tissue. Because water diffuses differently alongside cellular barriers, mapping this movement allows scientists to visualize the direction and density of white matter fibers.
Using this imaging data, the researchers calculated a metric called fractional anisotropy. This metric serves as an index of white matter microstructural integrity, essentially measuring how organized and tightly bundled the nerve fibers are within a specific pathway.
The team focused their analysis on two separate white matter pathways that connect the hippocampus to the back of the brain. The first target was the parahippocampal-parietal cingulum, a localized branch of nerve fibers linking the memory center to regions involved in mental imagery and the integration of internal thoughts.
The second target was the inferior longitudinal fasciculus. This thick band of white matter provides a direct communication route between the brain’s temporal memory areas and the visual cortex, which processes sights.
The researchers analyzed their brain scans alongside the thousands of real-world smartphone survey responses. To ensure their mathematical models were as accurate as possible, they incorporated information from their previous functional imaging studies, a statistical approach that anchors new structural data to known patterns of biological activity.
They found that the microscopic integrity of the two separate pathways corresponded to entirely different features of the trauma memories. Specifically, they discovered that a lower level of structural integrity in the parahippocampal-parietal cingulum was associated with a higher degree of memory intrusiveness.
To confirm that this association was unique to the examined memory pathway, the researchers also tested a control tract in the frontal lobe of the brain. They found no relationship between the frontal pathway and memory intrusiveness, supporting their hypothesis that the specific connection between the hippocampus and the parietal cortex plays a distinct role in managing unwanted thoughts.
This particular brain bundle projects to posterior regions that help govern memory suppression and the allocation of attention. If the structural integrity of this pathway is degraded, the brain might have a compromised ability to suppress unwanted memories, opening the door for the spontaneous and unprompted intrusions that define traumatic flashbacks.
In contrast, the researchers found that lower microstructural organization in the inferior longitudinal fasciculus was linked to a stronger sense of reliving the trauma in the present moment. This associative pathway connects memory areas to the visual cortex, playing a unique role in integrating incoming visual signals with emotional information.
When this secondary pathway is compromised, individuals might experience a failure to separate internal traumatic memories from their current visual reality. This biological blurring of boundaries could contribute to the overwhelming sensation that makes severe trauma memories so disorienting.
Because the research team conducted their brain imaging at a single point in time, the study cannot definitively determine the directionality of these relationships. It remains entirely unknown whether a natural variation in white matter integrity serves as a preexisting vulnerability that predisposes a person to intense traumatic memories after an event occurs.
Alternatively, the structural differences observed in the scans could be a biological consequence of repeatedly experiencing severe intrusive thoughts over time. The constant, repetitive retrieval of highly charged traumatic memories might physically alter the brain’s white matter pathways, similar to how repeated use changes a physical path through a forest.
Future research will require scientists to image trauma survivors repeatedly during the early aftermath of a distressing event, tracking how both the brain structure and the psychological symptoms evolve over several months or years. Additional studies involving controlled laboratory recall and naturalistic tracking in the exact same individuals could also clarify the biological overlap between voluntary and involuntary memories.
Through integrating the real-world tracking of memory experiences with advanced mapping of anatomical brain connections, researchers are gaining a deeper understanding of PTSD. Eventually, translating these physical variations into clinical profiles could help doctors pinpoint specific neural circuits, opening the door for treatments that target the specific memory symptoms a patient struggles with most.
The study, “Microstructural Integrity of Hippocampal–Posterior Cortical White Matter Is Associated With Phenomenological Properties of Trauma-Related Intrusive Memories,” was authored by Steven J. Granger, Boyu Ren, Kevin J. Clancy, Yara Pollmann, Justin T. Baker, and Isabelle M. Rosso.
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DATE: July 17, 2026 at 02:00PM
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: Brain structure variations are linked to different types of traumatic memories
New research reveals that the microstructural integrity of specific brain pathways is associated with how intensely a person experiences intrusive memories after a trauma. Published in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, the study suggests that distinct white matter connections correspond to different physical and emotional qualities of these recurring flashbacks.
Trauma-related intrusive memories are spontaneous and emotionally overwhelming sensory recollections. Individuals who experience them often feel as though the traumatic event is occurring in the present moment, blurring the line between past trauma and current reality. These intrusive flashbacks are a defining symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, and they frequently dictate the overall severity of a person’s condition.
Despite the massive impact these intrusive memories have on quality of life, the precise neurobiological mechanisms that govern their unique properties remain poorly understood. Many people experience intrusive memories differently. Some might find that their memories are dominated by intense visual fragments, while others might feel an overwhelming sense of reliving the event physically and emotionally.
To develop better therapeutic interventions, scientists are attempting to understand the exact physical wiring in the brain that supports these varied experiences. Theoretical models propose that the sensory details of traumatic flashbacks stem from a disruption in the way different brain regions communicate.
The hippocampus, a seahorse-shaped region deep in the brain, is fundamentally responsible for forming and retrieving episodic memories. When a memory is recalled, the hippocampus usually communicates with posterior cortical systems. These outer layers of the brain are involved in processing sensory information, reconstructing mental scenes, and maintaining a person’s internal sense of self.
Steven J. Granger, a researcher at McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School, led a team to investigate the structural pathways that bridge these distinct neural systems. The researchers hypothesized that the microscopic organization of these specific cellular pathways might explain why some people have trauma memories characterized primarily by sudden intrusiveness, while others experience memories defined by a profound sense of reliving the event.
The human brain relies on white matter to facilitate this complex communication. White matter tissue acts as a biological scaffolding, built from insulated nerve fibers called axons that bundle together to connect disparate brain regions. These pathways dictate which parts of the brain can interact, controlling the speed and efficiency with which electrical signals travel.
Prior functional brain imaging indicated that the subjective qualities of intrusive memories tend to correspond with how frequently the hippocampus activates alongside other brain networks. Still, the physical structure supporting these functional networks had not yet been evaluated in relation to the everyday experience of traumatic memories.
To capture the true nature of traumatic memories as they happen, Granger and his colleagues recruited 114 adults who had survived a traumatic event. These participants were experiencing regular intrusive memories, and a majority met the criteria for a formal PTSD diagnosis.
Most laboratory studies of trauma rely on asking patients to voluntarily recall their distressing experiences in a clinical setting. To avoid this artificial environment, the research team used a smartphone application to administer periodic surveys to the participants over the course of two weeks.
This technique, known as ecological momentary assessment, allowed the team to track spontaneous memories as they struck in the real world. Several times a day, participants received prompts to report if an intrusive memory had occurred since their last check-in. If they said yes, they immediately rated the memory’s vividness, visual detail, emotional intensity, intrusiveness, and the degree to which they felt they were actively reliving the event.
After the two-week reporting period, the participants underwent a specialized type of magnetic resonance imaging. The researchers used a technique called diffusion-weighted imaging, which tracks the tiny movements of water molecules within brain tissue. Because water diffuses differently alongside cellular barriers, mapping this movement allows scientists to visualize the direction and density of white matter fibers.
Using this imaging data, the researchers calculated a metric called fractional anisotropy. This metric serves as an index of white matter microstructural integrity, essentially measuring how organized and tightly bundled the nerve fibers are within a specific pathway.
The team focused their analysis on two separate white matter pathways that connect the hippocampus to the back of the brain. The first target was the parahippocampal-parietal cingulum, a localized branch of nerve fibers linking the memory center to regions involved in mental imagery and the integration of internal thoughts.
The second target was the inferior longitudinal fasciculus. This thick band of white matter provides a direct communication route between the brain’s temporal memory areas and the visual cortex, which processes sights.
The researchers analyzed their brain scans alongside the thousands of real-world smartphone survey responses. To ensure their mathematical models were as accurate as possible, they incorporated information from their previous functional imaging studies, a statistical approach that anchors new structural data to known patterns of biological activity.
They found that the microscopic integrity of the two separate pathways corresponded to entirely different features of the trauma memories. Specifically, they discovered that a lower level of structural integrity in the parahippocampal-parietal cingulum was associated with a higher degree of memory intrusiveness.
To confirm that this association was unique to the examined memory pathway, the researchers also tested a control tract in the frontal lobe of the brain. They found no relationship between the frontal pathway and memory intrusiveness, supporting their hypothesis that the specific connection between the hippocampus and the parietal cortex plays a distinct role in managing unwanted thoughts.
This particular brain bundle projects to posterior regions that help govern memory suppression and the allocation of attention. If the structural integrity of this pathway is degraded, the brain might have a compromised ability to suppress unwanted memories, opening the door for the spontaneous and unprompted intrusions that define traumatic flashbacks.
In contrast, the researchers found that lower microstructural organization in the inferior longitudinal fasciculus was linked to a stronger sense of reliving the trauma in the present moment. This associative pathway connects memory areas to the visual cortex, playing a unique role in integrating incoming visual signals with emotional information.
When this secondary pathway is compromised, individuals might experience a failure to separate internal traumatic memories from their current visual reality. This biological blurring of boundaries could contribute to the overwhelming sensation that makes severe trauma memories so disorienting.
Because the research team conducted their brain imaging at a single point in time, the study cannot definitively determine the directionality of these relationships. It remains entirely unknown whether a natural variation in white matter integrity serves as a preexisting vulnerability that predisposes a person to intense traumatic memories after an event occurs.
Alternatively, the structural differences observed in the scans could be a biological consequence of repeatedly experiencing severe intrusive thoughts over time. The constant, repetitive retrieval of highly charged traumatic memories might physically alter the brain’s white matter pathways, similar to how repeated use changes a physical path through a forest.
Future research will require scientists to image trauma survivors repeatedly during the early aftermath of a distressing event, tracking how both the brain structure and the psychological symptoms evolve over several months or years. Additional studies involving controlled laboratory recall and naturalistic tracking in the exact same individuals could also clarify the biological overlap between voluntary and involuntary memories.
Through integrating the real-world tracking of memory experiences with advanced mapping of anatomical brain connections, researchers are gaining a deeper understanding of PTSD. Eventually, translating these physical variations into clinical profiles could help doctors pinpoint specific neural circuits, opening the door for treatments that target the specific memory symptoms a patient struggles with most.
The study, “Microstructural Integrity of Hippocampal–Posterior Cortical White Matter Is Associated With Phenomenological Properties of Trauma-Related Intrusive Memories,” was authored by Steven J. Granger, Boyu Ren, Kevin J. Clancy, Yara Pollmann, Justin T. Baker, and Isabelle M. Rosso.
-------------------------------------------------
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DATE: July 17, 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: Autistic brains show differences in a fetal fold linked to social cognition
URL: https://www.psypost.org/autistic-brains-show-differences-in-a-fetal-fold-linked-to-social-cognition/
The physical arrangement of brain folds in an area linked to social and emotional processing appears altered in young males with autism spectrum disorder. A recent analysis of brain imaging data shows that neurotypical boys often exhibit a lopsided folding pattern that is less common in their autistic peers. The researchers published their work in the journal Cerebral Cortex.
The human brain is characterized by its heavily wrinkled outer layer, known as the cerebral cortex. This structure is packed with elevated ridges and deep grooves. Together, these folds function to maximize the sheer amount of neural tissue that can fit inside the cramped space of the human skull.
The valleys or grooves pushing deep into the brain tissue are called sulci. Most of the surface area of the cerebral cortex actually sits buried within these hidden grooves. Because the cortex coordinates higher-order mental functions, scientists actively study the shape and location of these folds to better understand human cognition and neurodevelopment.
One specific sub-region of this outer layer is the anterior cingulate cortex. This region operates as a central hub for emotional regulation, cognitive control, and social cognition. These represent broad areas of mental processing that are often affected in individuals with autism spectrum disorder, or ASD.
A prominent anatomical feature stretching within the anterior cingulate cortex is the paracingulate sulcus. The paracingulate sulcus is a tertiary brain fold that runs parallel to the main groove of the region. Unlike some major brain folds that appear practically identical in every human, this specific groove exhibits extreme physical variation across the population.
Some people develop a long, prominent paracingulate sulcus in both the left and right hemispheres of their brain. Others completely lack this secondary fold on both sides. When the fold is present, its exact shape and trajectory differ wildly from person to person.
In neurotypical populations, the presence of the paracingulate sulcus is usually asymmetrical. People frequently develop this fold in the left hemisphere of the brain, while the right hemisphere remains relatively smooth in that specific area. Past studies indicate that variations in this left-to-right pattern correlate with performance in executive function tasks and the ability to infer what others are thinking.
Because these cognitive traits closely overlap with the varied expressions of autism, researchers wanted to map the paracingulate sulcus in autistic individuals. Ethan Willbrand and Enrique Martinez, neuroscientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of California, Berkeley, led the investigative team. They aimed to outline the precise characteristics of this particular sulcus in young people with autism.
The research team utilized existing structural magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, scans of 200 young males ranging in age from five to 18. Half of the participants were previously diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. The other half were neurotypical individuals.
To ensure their analytic frameworks were robust and accurately represented reality, the scientists split these participants equally into a primary discovery group and a secondary replication group. This split-sample method allows researchers to verify their initial statistical models against an entirely separate batch of data.
Trained raters manually evaluated the MRI scans of each participant to determine the presence or absence of the paracingulate sulcus in both brain hemispheres. A fold had to measure at least 20 millimeters in length and four millimeters in depth to be officially classified as functionally present. Defining the limits of an elusive fold manually is recognized as the gold standard in neuroanatomy research.
In addition to checking for the basic presence of the fold, the team used computer algorithms to extract exact geometrical proportions. They measured the overall length of the paracingulate sulcus by tracing its longest unbroken path. They also calculated the maximum sulcal depth and the average thickness of the gray matter lining the inside of the groove.
The analysis revealed a consistent difference in how the paracingulate sulcus was distributed across the left and right brain hemispheres. Neurotypical participants were highly likely to have an asymmetrical folding pattern, typically featuring the groove on the left side of the brain but lacking it on the right side. In contrast, participants with autism spectrum disorder exhibited increased structural symmetry.
For the autistic participants, the specific left-heavy asymmetry was greatly reduced. They were much more likely to possess a matching set of features, either harboring the groove on both sides of the brain or lacking it uniformly across both sides. The likelihood of having an asymmetric paracingulate sulcus was substantially higher for neurotypical boys than for autistic boys.
This structural difference remained constant even when the researchers adjusted their statistical models to account for potential confounding variables. The team controlled for the participants’ ages, their measured intelligence quotients, and the physical location of the medical centers where the MRI scans were conducted.
While the overall structural symmetry behaved differently among the groups, the specific physical dimensions of the groove did not. Statistical tests indicated that the length, depth, and cortical thickness of the paracingulate sulcus did not differ between the autistic and neurotypical brains. The findings for these specific geometric measurements were not statistically significant in either the primary discovery group or the replication group.
This contrast highlights a well-known distinction between different features of human neuroanatomy. Tertiary brain folds like the paracingulate sulcus begin to form internally well before birth, usually initiating around the 36th week of human gestation. This structural blueprint reflects very early biological constraints placed on the growing fetal brain.
Such early formation suggests a prenatal origin for the observed symmetry differences in autistic youth. The relatively symmetrical layout found in the autistic brains likely points to early biological variations in the genetic factors or cellular mechanics that dictate how the fetal brain physically folds itself. Once these basic folds are set in utero, their layout remains largely stable throughout life.
Measurements like a fold’s depth or the thickness of its outer gray matter, on the other hand, are remarkably dynamic. Cortical thickness changes throughout childhood development, shrinking or growing in response to life experiences, learning, and physical maturation. Because these dynamic measurements did not differ between the groups, the researchers suggest the neuroanatomical differences associated with autism operate primarily at distances rooted in a person’s earliest prenatal development.
While the anatomical variation is notable, the current study comes with multiple limitations. The participant pool included only young males under the age of 20. Autism spectrum disorder presents with immense biological diversity, and brain folding patterns are occasionally known to differ heavily based on biological sex. This means the researchers’ findings cannot simply be generalized to autistic females or older adults.
Additionally, the researchers could not directly link the anatomical differences to specific behavioral or cognitive traits in this exact population. The public imaging database they relied upon did not include uniform cognitive testing details for all 200 participants. Understanding how the symmetry of this central brain fold actually influences everyday mental tasks will require a dedicated follow-up project.
Mapping human brain folds by hand also takes a substantial amount of time. This limits the total number of scans scientists can reasonably analyze in a single anatomical project. The research team recommends that future work direct investments into the development of automated computer-based tools that can accurately trace brain folds that are not instinctively universally present.
Such advanced technology would allow anatomical experts to process thousands of scans simultaneously. This would eventually help map the highly variable physical landscape of the human brain on a much larger scale, revealing exactly how a tiny prenatal fold shapes human behavior over an entire lifetime.
The study, “Anterior cingulate folding pattern is altered in autism spectrum disorder,” was authored by Ethan H. Willbrand, Enrique Martinez, Jacob J. Ludwig, Samira A. Maboudian, and Kevin S. Weiner.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/autistic-brains-show-differences-in-a-fetal-fold-linked-to-social-cognition/
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DATE: July 17, 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: Autistic brains show differences in a fetal fold linked to social cognition
URL: https://www.psypost.org/autistic-brains-show-differences-in-a-fetal-fold-linked-to-social-cognition/
The physical arrangement of brain folds in an area linked to social and emotional processing appears altered in young males with autism spectrum disorder. A recent analysis of brain imaging data shows that neurotypical boys often exhibit a lopsided folding pattern that is less common in their autistic peers. The researchers published their work in the journal Cerebral Cortex.
The human brain is characterized by its heavily wrinkled outer layer, known as the cerebral cortex. This structure is packed with elevated ridges and deep grooves. Together, these folds function to maximize the sheer amount of neural tissue that can fit inside the cramped space of the human skull.
The valleys or grooves pushing deep into the brain tissue are called sulci. Most of the surface area of the cerebral cortex actually sits buried within these hidden grooves. Because the cortex coordinates higher-order mental functions, scientists actively study the shape and location of these folds to better understand human cognition and neurodevelopment.
One specific sub-region of this outer layer is the anterior cingulate cortex. This region operates as a central hub for emotional regulation, cognitive control, and social cognition. These represent broad areas of mental processing that are often affected in individuals with autism spectrum disorder, or ASD.
A prominent anatomical feature stretching within the anterior cingulate cortex is the paracingulate sulcus. The paracingulate sulcus is a tertiary brain fold that runs parallel to the main groove of the region. Unlike some major brain folds that appear practically identical in every human, this specific groove exhibits extreme physical variation across the population.
Some people develop a long, prominent paracingulate sulcus in both the left and right hemispheres of their brain. Others completely lack this secondary fold on both sides. When the fold is present, its exact shape and trajectory differ wildly from person to person.
In neurotypical populations, the presence of the paracingulate sulcus is usually asymmetrical. People frequently develop this fold in the left hemisphere of the brain, while the right hemisphere remains relatively smooth in that specific area. Past studies indicate that variations in this left-to-right pattern correlate with performance in executive function tasks and the ability to infer what others are thinking.
Because these cognitive traits closely overlap with the varied expressions of autism, researchers wanted to map the paracingulate sulcus in autistic individuals. Ethan Willbrand and Enrique Martinez, neuroscientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of California, Berkeley, led the investigative team. They aimed to outline the precise characteristics of this particular sulcus in young people with autism.
The research team utilized existing structural magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, scans of 200 young males ranging in age from five to 18. Half of the participants were previously diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. The other half were neurotypical individuals.
To ensure their analytic frameworks were robust and accurately represented reality, the scientists split these participants equally into a primary discovery group and a secondary replication group. This split-sample method allows researchers to verify their initial statistical models against an entirely separate batch of data.
Trained raters manually evaluated the MRI scans of each participant to determine the presence or absence of the paracingulate sulcus in both brain hemispheres. A fold had to measure at least 20 millimeters in length and four millimeters in depth to be officially classified as functionally present. Defining the limits of an elusive fold manually is recognized as the gold standard in neuroanatomy research.
In addition to checking for the basic presence of the fold, the team used computer algorithms to extract exact geometrical proportions. They measured the overall length of the paracingulate sulcus by tracing its longest unbroken path. They also calculated the maximum sulcal depth and the average thickness of the gray matter lining the inside of the groove.
The analysis revealed a consistent difference in how the paracingulate sulcus was distributed across the left and right brain hemispheres. Neurotypical participants were highly likely to have an asymmetrical folding pattern, typically featuring the groove on the left side of the brain but lacking it on the right side. In contrast, participants with autism spectrum disorder exhibited increased structural symmetry.
For the autistic participants, the specific left-heavy asymmetry was greatly reduced. They were much more likely to possess a matching set of features, either harboring the groove on both sides of the brain or lacking it uniformly across both sides. The likelihood of having an asymmetric paracingulate sulcus was substantially higher for neurotypical boys than for autistic boys.
This structural difference remained constant even when the researchers adjusted their statistical models to account for potential confounding variables. The team controlled for the participants’ ages, their measured intelligence quotients, and the physical location of the medical centers where the MRI scans were conducted.
While the overall structural symmetry behaved differently among the groups, the specific physical dimensions of the groove did not. Statistical tests indicated that the length, depth, and cortical thickness of the paracingulate sulcus did not differ between the autistic and neurotypical brains. The findings for these specific geometric measurements were not statistically significant in either the primary discovery group or the replication group.
This contrast highlights a well-known distinction between different features of human neuroanatomy. Tertiary brain folds like the paracingulate sulcus begin to form internally well before birth, usually initiating around the 36th week of human gestation. This structural blueprint reflects very early biological constraints placed on the growing fetal brain.
Such early formation suggests a prenatal origin for the observed symmetry differences in autistic youth. The relatively symmetrical layout found in the autistic brains likely points to early biological variations in the genetic factors or cellular mechanics that dictate how the fetal brain physically folds itself. Once these basic folds are set in utero, their layout remains largely stable throughout life.
Measurements like a fold’s depth or the thickness of its outer gray matter, on the other hand, are remarkably dynamic. Cortical thickness changes throughout childhood development, shrinking or growing in response to life experiences, learning, and physical maturation. Because these dynamic measurements did not differ between the groups, the researchers suggest the neuroanatomical differences associated with autism operate primarily at distances rooted in a person’s earliest prenatal development.
While the anatomical variation is notable, the current study comes with multiple limitations. The participant pool included only young males under the age of 20. Autism spectrum disorder presents with immense biological diversity, and brain folding patterns are occasionally known to differ heavily based on biological sex. This means the researchers’ findings cannot simply be generalized to autistic females or older adults.
Additionally, the researchers could not directly link the anatomical differences to specific behavioral or cognitive traits in this exact population. The public imaging database they relied upon did not include uniform cognitive testing details for all 200 participants. Understanding how the symmetry of this central brain fold actually influences everyday mental tasks will require a dedicated follow-up project.
Mapping human brain folds by hand also takes a substantial amount of time. This limits the total number of scans scientists can reasonably analyze in a single anatomical project. The research team recommends that future work direct investments into the development of automated computer-based tools that can accurately trace brain folds that are not instinctively universally present.
Such advanced technology would allow anatomical experts to process thousands of scans simultaneously. This would eventually help map the highly variable physical landscape of the human brain on a much larger scale, revealing exactly how a tiny prenatal fold shapes human behavior over an entire lifetime.
The study, “Anterior cingulate folding pattern is altered in autism spectrum disorder,” was authored by Ethan H. Willbrand, Enrique Martinez, Jacob J. Ludwig, Samira A. Maboudian, and Kevin S. Weiner.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/autistic-brains-show-differences-in-a-fetal-fold-linked-to-social-cognition/
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #AutismResearch #BrainFolds #ParacingulateSulcus #CerebralCortex #AutismSpectrumDisorder #Neuroimaging #BrainDevelopment #SocialCognition #PrenatalBrain #Neuroanatomy
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DATE: July 17, 2026 at 07:00AM
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: Study finds complex association between dietary fat intake and brain atrophy in older adults
An analysis of Vanderbilt Memory and Aging Project study data found that a high-fat diet was associated with a faster reduction in temporal lobe volume in cognitively unimpaired participants. However, in individuals with mild cognitive impairment, adherence to the same type of diet was associated with a slower enlargement of the inferior lateral ventricle area of the brain. The paper was published in Alzheimer’s Dementia.
As people age, their risk of developing dementia increases, although dementia is not an inevitable part of normal aging. Dementias are disorders involving progressive declines in memory, reasoning, language, judgment, or other cognitive abilities that interfere with daily life. The most common type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. This disease is associated with an abnormal accumulation of proteins called amyloid plaques and tau tangles in the brain.
Aside from Alzheimer’s disease, dementias also include vascular dementia (resulting from reduced blood flow or damage to brain tissues caused by strokes or small-vessel disease), Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and others. The exact causes of dementias are not fully understood, but scientists believe that they are caused by a complex interaction between genetic predispositions and the environment. Up to 40% of the risk is attributable to modifiable lifestyle factors, including diet.
Lei Fan, a researcher at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and colleagues examined whether dietary fat intake was associated with changes in gray matter atrophy rates detected using neuroimaging over time in older adults. They were also interested in interactions of these changes with cognitive status, their dependence on sex, and whether an individual is a carrier of the APOE ε4 gene variant. APOE ε4 is a gene variant that increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
These researchers analyzed data from the Vanderbilt Memory and Aging Project. This is a longitudinal observational study that investigates vascular and neurological health and the aging of older individuals free of clinical dementia at enrollment. The data came from 758 participants of the Vanderbilt Memory and Aging Project Legacy Cohort and the Expansion Cohort. Their average age was 67 years. About 47% were men, and 35% were carriers of the APOE ε4 gene variant.
The Legacy Cohort recruitment began in September 2012, and all participants were required to be at least 60 years old, have adequate auditory and visual acuity, and have a reliable study partner. The Expansion Cohort recruited individuals aged 50 years or older and recruitment started in August 2021.
Depending on their assessed cognitive status, participants were categorized as either cognitively unimpaired or mildly cognitively impaired. Participants completed magnetic resonance imaging of their brains at enrollment in the study and on at least one more occasion. They also completed a questionnaire called the Quick Food Scan fat screener, allowing study authors to estimate their total dietary fat intake. Data were collected at the start of the study, 18 months later, and then 3, 5, 7, and 9 years after the start of the study.
Results showed that, cross-sectionally at baseline, neither total fat intake nor the percentage of energy derived from fats was associated with the total volume of the brain’s gray matter or with the volumes of specific lobes of the brain. However, longitudinally over an average of 4.6 years, individuals deriving a higher percentage of their energy from fats tended to show a slower rate of enlargement of the interior lateral ventricle volume. This association was weak, and it disappeared when study authors corrected their detection thresholds for multiple comparisons.
Further analysis showed that the percentage of energy derived from fat was associated with a faster reduction in temporal lobe volume in cognitively unimpaired participants. In contrast, in individuals with mild cognitive impairment, a higher percentage of energy derived from fat was associated with slower enlargement of the inferior lateral ventricle region of the brain.
The temporal lobe is a region of the brain that supports memory and language. The inferior lateral ventricles are spaces filled with fluids near the temporal lobe. Their enlargement reflects the loss of brain tissue in surrounding areas.
“A high-fat diet is associated with accelerated gray matter atrophy, particularly in [Alzheimer’s disease-relevant] regions such as the temporal lobe, in [cognitively unimpaired] adults, but is associated with slower atrophy in individuals with existing [mild cognitive impairment], which is mainly driven by APOE ε4 carriers and/or female individuals,” the study authors concluded.
“Different mechanisms may be involved in the fat–neurodegeneration relationship across cognitive statuses. Halted atrophy associated with a high-fat diet, observed exclusively in individuals with existing [mild cognitive impairment], may reflect the role of fat as part of a compensatory mechanism in response to progressive [Alzheimer’s disease] pathology and metabolic challenges.”
The study contributes to the scientific understanding of the links between diet and mental health. However, it should be noted that the design of this study does not allow any causal inferences to be derived from the results. It is also limited by the fact that the cohort was predominantly white, well-educated, and relatively healthy. Additionally, a single self-reported dietary fat assessment at baseline may not reflect long-term variations in dietary intake.
The paper, “High-fat diet is associated with accelerated gray matter atrophy in cognitively unimpaired older adults but slower atrophy in individuals with existing mild cognitive impairment,” was authored by Lei Fan, Yunyi Sun, Dandan Liu, W. Hudson Robb, Kimberly R. Pechman, Niranjana Shashikumar, Yukti Vyas, Bennett A. Landman, Timothy J. Hohman, and Angela L. Jefferson.
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #HighFatDiet #BrainAtrophy #TemporalLobe #MildCognitiveImpairment #Alzheimer'sDiseaseResearch #APOE4 #CognitiveHealth #DementiaPrevention #Neuroimaging #VanderbiltMemoryAgingProject
-
DATE: July 17, 2026 at 07:00AM
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: Study finds complex association between dietary fat intake and brain atrophy in older adults
An analysis of Vanderbilt Memory and Aging Project study data found that a high-fat diet was associated with a faster reduction in temporal lobe volume in cognitively unimpaired participants. However, in individuals with mild cognitive impairment, adherence to the same type of diet was associated with a slower enlargement of the inferior lateral ventricle area of the brain. The paper was published in Alzheimer’s Dementia.
As people age, their risk of developing dementia increases, although dementia is not an inevitable part of normal aging. Dementias are disorders involving progressive declines in memory, reasoning, language, judgment, or other cognitive abilities that interfere with daily life. The most common type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. This disease is associated with an abnormal accumulation of proteins called amyloid plaques and tau tangles in the brain.
Aside from Alzheimer’s disease, dementias also include vascular dementia (resulting from reduced blood flow or damage to brain tissues caused by strokes or small-vessel disease), Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and others. The exact causes of dementias are not fully understood, but scientists believe that they are caused by a complex interaction between genetic predispositions and the environment. Up to 40% of the risk is attributable to modifiable lifestyle factors, including diet.
Lei Fan, a researcher at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and colleagues examined whether dietary fat intake was associated with changes in gray matter atrophy rates detected using neuroimaging over time in older adults. They were also interested in interactions of these changes with cognitive status, their dependence on sex, and whether an individual is a carrier of the APOE ε4 gene variant. APOE ε4 is a gene variant that increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
These researchers analyzed data from the Vanderbilt Memory and Aging Project. This is a longitudinal observational study that investigates vascular and neurological health and the aging of older individuals free of clinical dementia at enrollment. The data came from 758 participants of the Vanderbilt Memory and Aging Project Legacy Cohort and the Expansion Cohort. Their average age was 67 years. About 47% were men, and 35% were carriers of the APOE ε4 gene variant.
The Legacy Cohort recruitment began in September 2012, and all participants were required to be at least 60 years old, have adequate auditory and visual acuity, and have a reliable study partner. The Expansion Cohort recruited individuals aged 50 years or older and recruitment started in August 2021.
Depending on their assessed cognitive status, participants were categorized as either cognitively unimpaired or mildly cognitively impaired. Participants completed magnetic resonance imaging of their brains at enrollment in the study and on at least one more occasion. They also completed a questionnaire called the Quick Food Scan fat screener, allowing study authors to estimate their total dietary fat intake. Data were collected at the start of the study, 18 months later, and then 3, 5, 7, and 9 years after the start of the study.
Results showed that, cross-sectionally at baseline, neither total fat intake nor the percentage of energy derived from fats was associated with the total volume of the brain’s gray matter or with the volumes of specific lobes of the brain. However, longitudinally over an average of 4.6 years, individuals deriving a higher percentage of their energy from fats tended to show a slower rate of enlargement of the interior lateral ventricle volume. This association was weak, and it disappeared when study authors corrected their detection thresholds for multiple comparisons.
Further analysis showed that the percentage of energy derived from fat was associated with a faster reduction in temporal lobe volume in cognitively unimpaired participants. In contrast, in individuals with mild cognitive impairment, a higher percentage of energy derived from fat was associated with slower enlargement of the inferior lateral ventricle region of the brain.
The temporal lobe is a region of the brain that supports memory and language. The inferior lateral ventricles are spaces filled with fluids near the temporal lobe. Their enlargement reflects the loss of brain tissue in surrounding areas.
“A high-fat diet is associated with accelerated gray matter atrophy, particularly in [Alzheimer’s disease-relevant] regions such as the temporal lobe, in [cognitively unimpaired] adults, but is associated with slower atrophy in individuals with existing [mild cognitive impairment], which is mainly driven by APOE ε4 carriers and/or female individuals,” the study authors concluded.
“Different mechanisms may be involved in the fat–neurodegeneration relationship across cognitive statuses. Halted atrophy associated with a high-fat diet, observed exclusively in individuals with existing [mild cognitive impairment], may reflect the role of fat as part of a compensatory mechanism in response to progressive [Alzheimer’s disease] pathology and metabolic challenges.”
The study contributes to the scientific understanding of the links between diet and mental health. However, it should be noted that the design of this study does not allow any causal inferences to be derived from the results. It is also limited by the fact that the cohort was predominantly white, well-educated, and relatively healthy. Additionally, a single self-reported dietary fat assessment at baseline may not reflect long-term variations in dietary intake.
The paper, “High-fat diet is associated with accelerated gray matter atrophy in cognitively unimpaired older adults but slower atrophy in individuals with existing mild cognitive impairment,” was authored by Lei Fan, Yunyi Sun, Dandan Liu, W. Hudson Robb, Kimberly R. Pechman, Niranjana Shashikumar, Yukti Vyas, Bennett A. Landman, Timothy J. Hohman, and Angela L. Jefferson.
-------------------------------------------------
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-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #HighFatDiet #BrainAtrophy #TemporalLobe #MildCognitiveImpairment #Alzheimer'sDiseaseResearch #APOE4 #CognitiveHealth #DementiaPrevention #Neuroimaging #VanderbiltMemoryAgingProject
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DATE: July 16, 2026 at 02:00PM
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: Genetic risk for cannabis use disorder linked to brain differences in youth
URL: https://www.psypost.org/genetic-risk-for-cannabis-use-disorder-linked-to-brain-differences-in-youth/
A person’s genetic risk for developing a cannabis addiction is associated with structural brain differences during adolescence, even in individuals who have never struggled with substance abuse. The finding indicates that some brain variations previously attributed to marijuana use might partly originate from an inherited biological predisposition. The study was published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.
Bipolar disorder is a severe mental health condition characterized by dramatic shifts in mood, energy, and activity levels. People with the condition experience intense emotional states known as mood episodes, which can include periods of extreme elation or irritability, known as mania, and periods of deep sadness, known as depression. The condition often emerges during the teenage years and is a leading cause of functional disability among youth globally.
Teenagers with bipolar disorder frequently face additional psychiatric challenges throughout their schooling and home lives. Research shows that about 30 percent of youth diagnosed with bipolar disorder also have a co-occurring substance use disorder. Cannabis use disorder ranks as the most common addiction in this specific clinical group. Youth with bipolar disorder use cannabis at higher rates than the general population and face an elevated risk of developing a long-term dependency on the drug.
Heavy cannabis use has been repeatedly linked to worse outcomes for individuals with bipolar disorder. These negative impacts include a higher risk of suicide, a delayed recovery process, and an increased likelihood of experiencing psychosis. Past brain imaging studies have also noted structural differences in the brains of teenagers who regularly consume cannabis, both with and without mood disorders. The exact nature of these differences has varied across different observational reports.
Some research points to larger gray matter volume in certain brain regions among users, while other reports document smaller volumes in those same areas. Because most of these studies observe people at a single point in time, it is difficult to determine whether cannabis changes the brain or if people with preexisting brain differences are simply more likely to use the drug. To separate cause from effect in these brain measurements, scientists sometimes examine genetics. Addiction involves inherited physical traits, and modern genetic testing allows researchers to measure a person’s underlying vulnerability to an addiction before it ever develops.
Scientists do this using an advanced mathematical tool called a polygenic risk score. Unlike older tests that look for a single faulty gene, a polygenic risk score tallies up thousands of tiny genetic variations across a person’s entire DNA sequence. By comparing these variations against data from people who have a condition, researchers can calculate a customized score that estimates an individual’s overall genetic likelihood of developing that specific problem. Alysha Sultan, a researcher at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, recognized an opportunity to apply this genetics tool to brain imaging.
Sultan and her colleagues set out to discover if a high polygenic risk score for cannabis use disorder correlated with brain structure in youths, regardless of their developmental history of drug use. The researchers recruited 114 teenagers and young adults between the ages of 13 and 20. The sample included 67 youths who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder at a specialty psychiatric clinic. The remaining 47 participants were healthy controls randomly recruited from the community who had no personal or family history of major psychiatric disorders.
The team asked all participants to provide a saliva sample. From this saliva, the scientists extracted DNA and scanned the genetic sequences to calculate a specific polygenic risk score for cannabis use disorder for every participant. To create the scoring baseline, they relied on data from a preexisting study of adults that mapped the genetic profiles of tens of thousands of people with a diagnosed cannabis dependency.
After collecting the genetic data, the researchers brought the participants in for brain imaging. They used a magnetic resonance imaging machine, commonly known as an MRI, to capture high-resolution pictures of the participants’ brains. The team focused on the cerebral cortex, the folded outer layer of the brain that manages complex thought, memory, and perception.
The researchers measured three specific physical traits of the cerebral cortex: volume, surface area, and thickness. Volume refers to the total amount of space a specific brain region takes up, while surface area measures the expanse of the folded outer layer. Thickness gauges the physical depth of the gray matter on that layer. The scientists wrote statistical models to compare these structural measurements against the participants’ genetic risk scores, accounting for variables like age, sex, and overall head size.
The neuroimaging data revealed a consistent physical pattern. Across the entire group of youths, a higher genetic risk score for cannabis use disorder matched up with localized reductions in brain size. The researchers observed lower total volume and lower surface area in a brain region called the right superior frontal gyrus. Located near the very top and front of the brain, the superior frontal gyrus is involved in higher cognitive functions such as spatial processing and working memory, which is the ability to hold and manipulate information in the mind over short periods.
The researchers also noticed a smaller surface area in a region called the left paracentral lobule. This area rests near the top center of the brain and helps process sensory information from the body. These results were evident regardless of whether the youths had bipolar disorder or whether they had ever tried cannabis. The researchers ran specialized tests that completely excluded the participants who currently or previously had a cannabis use disorder, and the structural differences remained.
When the team split the participants by diagnosis, they found similar patterns among the healthy volunteers. Healthy teenagers with a higher genetic risk for the addiction exhibited lower brain volume and surface area in both the left and the right superior frontal gyrus.
The results among the participants diagnosed with bipolar disorder were not statistically significant when analyzed on their own. The researchers suspect this outcome relates to the vast biological complexities associated with bipolar disorder itself. The youths with the condition had high rates of anxiety and attention difficulties, took various psychiatric medications, and reported different medical histories. These competing factors may alter brain structure in their own localized ways, creating statistical noise in the data that masks the subtler differences linked strictly to the cannabis risk genes.
Sultan and her colleagues pointed out a few constraints to their investigation. Addiction involves similar genetic pathways across different types of substances, meaning people with a genetic liability for cannabis use disorder often share a generalized genetic vulnerability to alcohol or nicotine. The risk scores used in the study might reflect a broader tendency toward behavioral disinhibition rather than a strict vulnerability to cannabis alone. The genetic baselines used in the study also relied on data from individuals of European ancestry, meaning the relationships might differ for people of other ethnic backgrounds.
The initial findings offer a new way to interpret past neuroimaging research. Because a genetic predisposition alone corresponds with smaller frontal brain regions, some of the brain differences previously blamed on teen marijuana use might have existed before the drug use began. The scientists suggest that longer studies following the same teenagers into adulthood could help explain how inherited vulnerabilities shape the growing brain over time.
The study, “Association of polygenic risk for cannabis use disorder with brain structure among youth with and without bipolar disorder,” was authored by Alysha A. Sultan, Clement C. Zai, Kody G. Kennedy, L. Trevor Young, Bradley J. MacIntosh, and Benjamin I. Goldstein.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/genetic-risk-for-cannabis-use-disorder-linked-to-brain-differences-in-youth/
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #CannabisUseDisorder #GeneticRisk #BrainStructure #AdolescentBrain #PolygenicRiskScore #BipolarDisorder #Neuroimaging #FrontalGyrus #CerebralCortex #YouthMentalHealth
-
DATE: July 16, 2026 at 02:00PM
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: Genetic risk for cannabis use disorder linked to brain differences in youth
URL: https://www.psypost.org/genetic-risk-for-cannabis-use-disorder-linked-to-brain-differences-in-youth/
A person’s genetic risk for developing a cannabis addiction is associated with structural brain differences during adolescence, even in individuals who have never struggled with substance abuse. The finding indicates that some brain variations previously attributed to marijuana use might partly originate from an inherited biological predisposition. The study was published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.
Bipolar disorder is a severe mental health condition characterized by dramatic shifts in mood, energy, and activity levels. People with the condition experience intense emotional states known as mood episodes, which can include periods of extreme elation or irritability, known as mania, and periods of deep sadness, known as depression. The condition often emerges during the teenage years and is a leading cause of functional disability among youth globally.
Teenagers with bipolar disorder frequently face additional psychiatric challenges throughout their schooling and home lives. Research shows that about 30 percent of youth diagnosed with bipolar disorder also have a co-occurring substance use disorder. Cannabis use disorder ranks as the most common addiction in this specific clinical group. Youth with bipolar disorder use cannabis at higher rates than the general population and face an elevated risk of developing a long-term dependency on the drug.
Heavy cannabis use has been repeatedly linked to worse outcomes for individuals with bipolar disorder. These negative impacts include a higher risk of suicide, a delayed recovery process, and an increased likelihood of experiencing psychosis. Past brain imaging studies have also noted structural differences in the brains of teenagers who regularly consume cannabis, both with and without mood disorders. The exact nature of these differences has varied across different observational reports.
Some research points to larger gray matter volume in certain brain regions among users, while other reports document smaller volumes in those same areas. Because most of these studies observe people at a single point in time, it is difficult to determine whether cannabis changes the brain or if people with preexisting brain differences are simply more likely to use the drug. To separate cause from effect in these brain measurements, scientists sometimes examine genetics. Addiction involves inherited physical traits, and modern genetic testing allows researchers to measure a person’s underlying vulnerability to an addiction before it ever develops.
Scientists do this using an advanced mathematical tool called a polygenic risk score. Unlike older tests that look for a single faulty gene, a polygenic risk score tallies up thousands of tiny genetic variations across a person’s entire DNA sequence. By comparing these variations against data from people who have a condition, researchers can calculate a customized score that estimates an individual’s overall genetic likelihood of developing that specific problem. Alysha Sultan, a researcher at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, recognized an opportunity to apply this genetics tool to brain imaging.
Sultan and her colleagues set out to discover if a high polygenic risk score for cannabis use disorder correlated with brain structure in youths, regardless of their developmental history of drug use. The researchers recruited 114 teenagers and young adults between the ages of 13 and 20. The sample included 67 youths who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder at a specialty psychiatric clinic. The remaining 47 participants were healthy controls randomly recruited from the community who had no personal or family history of major psychiatric disorders.
The team asked all participants to provide a saliva sample. From this saliva, the scientists extracted DNA and scanned the genetic sequences to calculate a specific polygenic risk score for cannabis use disorder for every participant. To create the scoring baseline, they relied on data from a preexisting study of adults that mapped the genetic profiles of tens of thousands of people with a diagnosed cannabis dependency.
After collecting the genetic data, the researchers brought the participants in for brain imaging. They used a magnetic resonance imaging machine, commonly known as an MRI, to capture high-resolution pictures of the participants’ brains. The team focused on the cerebral cortex, the folded outer layer of the brain that manages complex thought, memory, and perception.
The researchers measured three specific physical traits of the cerebral cortex: volume, surface area, and thickness. Volume refers to the total amount of space a specific brain region takes up, while surface area measures the expanse of the folded outer layer. Thickness gauges the physical depth of the gray matter on that layer. The scientists wrote statistical models to compare these structural measurements against the participants’ genetic risk scores, accounting for variables like age, sex, and overall head size.
The neuroimaging data revealed a consistent physical pattern. Across the entire group of youths, a higher genetic risk score for cannabis use disorder matched up with localized reductions in brain size. The researchers observed lower total volume and lower surface area in a brain region called the right superior frontal gyrus. Located near the very top and front of the brain, the superior frontal gyrus is involved in higher cognitive functions such as spatial processing and working memory, which is the ability to hold and manipulate information in the mind over short periods.
The researchers also noticed a smaller surface area in a region called the left paracentral lobule. This area rests near the top center of the brain and helps process sensory information from the body. These results were evident regardless of whether the youths had bipolar disorder or whether they had ever tried cannabis. The researchers ran specialized tests that completely excluded the participants who currently or previously had a cannabis use disorder, and the structural differences remained.
When the team split the participants by diagnosis, they found similar patterns among the healthy volunteers. Healthy teenagers with a higher genetic risk for the addiction exhibited lower brain volume and surface area in both the left and the right superior frontal gyrus.
The results among the participants diagnosed with bipolar disorder were not statistically significant when analyzed on their own. The researchers suspect this outcome relates to the vast biological complexities associated with bipolar disorder itself. The youths with the condition had high rates of anxiety and attention difficulties, took various psychiatric medications, and reported different medical histories. These competing factors may alter brain structure in their own localized ways, creating statistical noise in the data that masks the subtler differences linked strictly to the cannabis risk genes.
Sultan and her colleagues pointed out a few constraints to their investigation. Addiction involves similar genetic pathways across different types of substances, meaning people with a genetic liability for cannabis use disorder often share a generalized genetic vulnerability to alcohol or nicotine. The risk scores used in the study might reflect a broader tendency toward behavioral disinhibition rather than a strict vulnerability to cannabis alone. The genetic baselines used in the study also relied on data from individuals of European ancestry, meaning the relationships might differ for people of other ethnic backgrounds.
The initial findings offer a new way to interpret past neuroimaging research. Because a genetic predisposition alone corresponds with smaller frontal brain regions, some of the brain differences previously blamed on teen marijuana use might have existed before the drug use began. The scientists suggest that longer studies following the same teenagers into adulthood could help explain how inherited vulnerabilities shape the growing brain over time.
The study, “Association of polygenic risk for cannabis use disorder with brain structure among youth with and without bipolar disorder,” was authored by Alysha A. Sultan, Clement C. Zai, Kody G. Kennedy, L. Trevor Young, Bradley J. MacIntosh, and Benjamin I. Goldstein.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/genetic-risk-for-cannabis-use-disorder-linked-to-brain-differences-in-youth/
-------------------------------------------------
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #CannabisUseDisorder #GeneticRisk #BrainStructure #AdolescentBrain #PolygenicRiskScore #BipolarDisorder #Neuroimaging #FrontalGyrus #CerebralCortex #YouthMentalHealth
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DATE: July 13, 2026 at 06:00PM
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: How LSD reshapes brain circuitry to blur the lines between perception and thought
A recent small study analyzes how the psychedelic drug LSD reshapes brain activity. The research shows that the substance boosts widespread neural synchronization while blurring the boundaries between sensory perception and abstract thought. Through computer modeling and brain scans, researchers found that LSD alters the balance of excitement and inhibition in specific brain circuits, potentially pulling the mind out of entrenched patterns. The findings were published in PLOS Computational Biology.
Psychedelics are seeing a resurgence in psychiatric research. Clinical trials suggest these substances hold potential for assisting in the treatment of conditions like depression, anxiety, and addiction. Mental health disorders often involve rigid, stubborn patterns of thinking. Psychedelic compounds seem to induce the opposite effect, introducing temporary flexibility to brain activity.
To understand how a drug can drastically alter human consciousness, scientists look at how different networks function in the brain. Even when a person is resting, regions of the brain constantly communicate. Distinct networks process everything from simple sensory inputs, like touch and sight, to abstract cognitive tasks, like self-reflection and attention.
Healthy brain function relies on a delicate seesaw effect known as the excitatory and inhibitory balance. Excitatory neurons act like a biological accelerator, sending electrical signals that encourage other neurons to fire. Inhibitory neurons act like the brakes, preventing overactivity and keeping the system organized.
Lingyu Zhang, a researcher at the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, alongside colleagues across several other institutions, wanted to map how this balance changes under the influence of LSD. Measuring the exact chemical equilibrium directly in a living human brain is incredibly difficult with current noninvasive technology. To get around this limitation, the research team turned to computational modeling coupled with neuroimaging data.
The researchers utilized an existing data set from a small study of 15 healthy adults. During the original experiment, participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging. This type of brain scan measures changes in blood flow over time, allowing researchers to detect which areas of the brain are highly active. Each person received two scans on separate days, one occurring after an injection of a placebo, and the other occurring after an intravenous dose of LSD.
Zhang and the research team took this scanning data and looked for patterns of synchronization. They wanted to see if the rhythmic waves of activity in different brain regions peaked and dipped at the exact same moment. Phase synchronization occurs when multiple regions align their rhythms. The researchers grouped these synchronized moments together to categorize distinct brain states.
Under the placebo condition, the brain hopped smoothly between various modular states. Some of these states were dedicated purely to processing sensory information. Other states were tied strictly to the default mode network, which is a group of associative brain regions dealing with mind wandering, memories, and an individual’s sense of self.
When participants took LSD, their brain dynamics shifted in a profound manner. The researchers found that LSD enhanced global brain synchrony. Instead of operating in segregated, independent networks, the entire brain was much more likely to fire together in a unified state.
This highly synchronized global state seemed to act like a magnet, drawing the brain away from its compartmentalized routines. The probability of the brain transitioning from this unified state back into specialized cognitive control networks was markedly reduced. Due to the limited sample size, some minute differences in transition probabilities between minor states were not statistically significant. However, the overarching trend toward increased global synchrony remained visible.
To understand the hidden machinery behind this shift, the researchers built a dynamic computer simulation. They combined the brain scan data with detailed maps of structural connections in the human brain. This allowed the team to calculate the estimated ratio of excitation to inhibition in tiny neural circuits across the entire cerebral cortex.
The computer model revealed that LSD alters the brain’s internal chemical balance, doing so unevenly. The drug affects regions responsible for basic sensory perception quite differently than it affects regions responsible for abstract thought.
In areas of the brain related to sensory and motor processing, the model showed a sharp drop in the excitatory-to-inhibitory ratio. The biological brakes became much stronger in these regions. This chemical shift suppresses how tenaciously the brain anchors itself to external sensory inputs.
Conversely, the model estimated that the activation ratio increased in associative brain regions. Taking off the brakes in these abstract processing centers could make neurons uncharacteristically active. The researchers suggest this neural remodeling fosters cognitive flexibility, allowing participants to experience intense introspection.
By turning down sensory areas and dialing up abstract areas, LSD essentially levels the playing field between the two. The strict boundaries that usually separate concrete perception from abstract cognition begin to dissolve. This physiological mechanism aligns closely with the subjective experiences often reported by users of psychedelics, such as a dissolving sense of self and an altered perception of the world.
The team also discovered that the sensory and motor cortices might serve as primary drivers for these brain-wide changes. The suppression of these early sensory pathways appears to cascade upward. This disruption travels up the hierarchy of the brain, scattering the higher-order networks that typically impose order on human cognition.
Psychedelics are known to bind to a specific type of serotonin receptor in the brain, known as the 5-HT2A receptor. This receptor triggers chemical chain reactions that can alter the release of glutamate, which serves as the brain’s primary excitatory neurotransmitter. The researchers noted that their computer model’s map of altered excitement and inhibition closely overlapped with known anatomical maps of serotonin and glutamate receptors.
This theoretical overlap hints at the biological mechanism at play. The LSD binds to serotonin receptors, which in turn manipulate the excitatory neurotransmitters at localized points in the sensory cortex. The ripple effect ultimately changes the entire brain’s operational rhythm, forcing it out of rigid habits.
The authors pointed out several limitations to their analysis that warrant caution. Because this original data set came from a small study, larger clinical trials will be necessary to confirm the results. Expanding the participant pool would help ensure the findings apply reliably to the broader population.
The research focused exclusively on the cerebral cortex, which is the brain’s wrinkled outer layer. The computational models did not include deeper subcortical structures like the thalamus. The thalamus acts as a major relay station for sensory information. Previous research suggests this region plays a vital role in how hallucinogens affect the mind, meaning future studies will need to incorporate it to provide a complete picture.
The study also did not match the brain scanning data with subjective psychological questionnaires from the participants. The researchers noted that future investigations should explore how these measured changes in brain connectivity correlate with a person’s specific emotional or perceptual experiences. Learning exactly how the loss of sensory anchoring matches an individual’s reported hallucinations would bring science one step closer to practical therapeutic applications.
The study, “Lysergic acid diethylamide-derived excitatory/inhibitory ratio change enhances global synchrony in functional brain dynamics,” was authored by Lingyu Zhang, Weiyang Shi, Ziyang Zhao, Zhichao Wang, Congying Chu, Bokai Zhao, Jiaqi Zhang, Qianhui Liu, Yueheng Lan, and Tianzi Jiang.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #LSD #psychedelics #brainnetworks #neuroscience #global synchrony #excitatoryinhibitorybalance #5HT2A #neuroimaging #cognition #perceptionandthought
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DATE: July 13, 2026 at 06:00PM
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: How LSD reshapes brain circuitry to blur the lines between perception and thought
A recent small study analyzes how the psychedelic drug LSD reshapes brain activity. The research shows that the substance boosts widespread neural synchronization while blurring the boundaries between sensory perception and abstract thought. Through computer modeling and brain scans, researchers found that LSD alters the balance of excitement and inhibition in specific brain circuits, potentially pulling the mind out of entrenched patterns. The findings were published in PLOS Computational Biology.
Psychedelics are seeing a resurgence in psychiatric research. Clinical trials suggest these substances hold potential for assisting in the treatment of conditions like depression, anxiety, and addiction. Mental health disorders often involve rigid, stubborn patterns of thinking. Psychedelic compounds seem to induce the opposite effect, introducing temporary flexibility to brain activity.
To understand how a drug can drastically alter human consciousness, scientists look at how different networks function in the brain. Even when a person is resting, regions of the brain constantly communicate. Distinct networks process everything from simple sensory inputs, like touch and sight, to abstract cognitive tasks, like self-reflection and attention.
Healthy brain function relies on a delicate seesaw effect known as the excitatory and inhibitory balance. Excitatory neurons act like a biological accelerator, sending electrical signals that encourage other neurons to fire. Inhibitory neurons act like the brakes, preventing overactivity and keeping the system organized.
Lingyu Zhang, a researcher at the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, alongside colleagues across several other institutions, wanted to map how this balance changes under the influence of LSD. Measuring the exact chemical equilibrium directly in a living human brain is incredibly difficult with current noninvasive technology. To get around this limitation, the research team turned to computational modeling coupled with neuroimaging data.
The researchers utilized an existing data set from a small study of 15 healthy adults. During the original experiment, participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging. This type of brain scan measures changes in blood flow over time, allowing researchers to detect which areas of the brain are highly active. Each person received two scans on separate days, one occurring after an injection of a placebo, and the other occurring after an intravenous dose of LSD.
Zhang and the research team took this scanning data and looked for patterns of synchronization. They wanted to see if the rhythmic waves of activity in different brain regions peaked and dipped at the exact same moment. Phase synchronization occurs when multiple regions align their rhythms. The researchers grouped these synchronized moments together to categorize distinct brain states.
Under the placebo condition, the brain hopped smoothly between various modular states. Some of these states were dedicated purely to processing sensory information. Other states were tied strictly to the default mode network, which is a group of associative brain regions dealing with mind wandering, memories, and an individual’s sense of self.
When participants took LSD, their brain dynamics shifted in a profound manner. The researchers found that LSD enhanced global brain synchrony. Instead of operating in segregated, independent networks, the entire brain was much more likely to fire together in a unified state.
This highly synchronized global state seemed to act like a magnet, drawing the brain away from its compartmentalized routines. The probability of the brain transitioning from this unified state back into specialized cognitive control networks was markedly reduced. Due to the limited sample size, some minute differences in transition probabilities between minor states were not statistically significant. However, the overarching trend toward increased global synchrony remained visible.
To understand the hidden machinery behind this shift, the researchers built a dynamic computer simulation. They combined the brain scan data with detailed maps of structural connections in the human brain. This allowed the team to calculate the estimated ratio of excitation to inhibition in tiny neural circuits across the entire cerebral cortex.
The computer model revealed that LSD alters the brain’s internal chemical balance, doing so unevenly. The drug affects regions responsible for basic sensory perception quite differently than it affects regions responsible for abstract thought.
In areas of the brain related to sensory and motor processing, the model showed a sharp drop in the excitatory-to-inhibitory ratio. The biological brakes became much stronger in these regions. This chemical shift suppresses how tenaciously the brain anchors itself to external sensory inputs.
Conversely, the model estimated that the activation ratio increased in associative brain regions. Taking off the brakes in these abstract processing centers could make neurons uncharacteristically active. The researchers suggest this neural remodeling fosters cognitive flexibility, allowing participants to experience intense introspection.
By turning down sensory areas and dialing up abstract areas, LSD essentially levels the playing field between the two. The strict boundaries that usually separate concrete perception from abstract cognition begin to dissolve. This physiological mechanism aligns closely with the subjective experiences often reported by users of psychedelics, such as a dissolving sense of self and an altered perception of the world.
The team also discovered that the sensory and motor cortices might serve as primary drivers for these brain-wide changes. The suppression of these early sensory pathways appears to cascade upward. This disruption travels up the hierarchy of the brain, scattering the higher-order networks that typically impose order on human cognition.
Psychedelics are known to bind to a specific type of serotonin receptor in the brain, known as the 5-HT2A receptor. This receptor triggers chemical chain reactions that can alter the release of glutamate, which serves as the brain’s primary excitatory neurotransmitter. The researchers noted that their computer model’s map of altered excitement and inhibition closely overlapped with known anatomical maps of serotonin and glutamate receptors.
This theoretical overlap hints at the biological mechanism at play. The LSD binds to serotonin receptors, which in turn manipulate the excitatory neurotransmitters at localized points in the sensory cortex. The ripple effect ultimately changes the entire brain’s operational rhythm, forcing it out of rigid habits.
The authors pointed out several limitations to their analysis that warrant caution. Because this original data set came from a small study, larger clinical trials will be necessary to confirm the results. Expanding the participant pool would help ensure the findings apply reliably to the broader population.
The research focused exclusively on the cerebral cortex, which is the brain’s wrinkled outer layer. The computational models did not include deeper subcortical structures like the thalamus. The thalamus acts as a major relay station for sensory information. Previous research suggests this region plays a vital role in how hallucinogens affect the mind, meaning future studies will need to incorporate it to provide a complete picture.
The study also did not match the brain scanning data with subjective psychological questionnaires from the participants. The researchers noted that future investigations should explore how these measured changes in brain connectivity correlate with a person’s specific emotional or perceptual experiences. Learning exactly how the loss of sensory anchoring matches an individual’s reported hallucinations would bring science one step closer to practical therapeutic applications.
The study, “Lysergic acid diethylamide-derived excitatory/inhibitory ratio change enhances global synchrony in functional brain dynamics,” was authored by Lingyu Zhang, Weiyang Shi, Ziyang Zhao, Zhichao Wang, Congying Chu, Bokai Zhao, Jiaqi Zhang, Qianhui Liu, Yueheng Lan, and Tianzi Jiang.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #LSD #psychedelics #brainnetworks #neuroscience #global synchrony #excitatoryinhibitorybalance #5HT2A #neuroimaging #cognition #perceptionandthought
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On the Emergence of Neuroforecasting
Knowledge in the neurosciences, theory and methodology, is increasingly applied to improve and deepen our understanding of consumer decision processes, affect and cognition, and behaviours, in a young field known as consumer neuroscience; practical implementation of this knowledge on consumers in marketing management is known as neuromarketing. Relevant specialisitations in the neurosciences include neuropsychology, neuroeconomics, and neurobiology. The research has largely focused on […]https://consumergateway.org/2026/07/13/on-the-emergence-of-neuroforecasting/
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On the Emergence of Neuroforecasting
Knowledge in the neurosciences, theory and methodology, is increasingly applied to improve and deepen our understanding of consumer decision processes, affect and cognition, and behaviours, in a young field known as consumer neuroscience; practical implementation of this knowledge on consumers in marketing management is known as neuromarketing. Relevant specialisitations in the neurosciences include neuropsychology, neuroeconomics, and neurobiology. The research has largely focused on […]https://consumergateway.org/2026/07/13/on-the-emergence-of-neuroforecasting/
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NeuroVFM trains a medical AI on 5 million uncurated brain scans without human labels
https://1ban.news/neurovfm-neuroimaging-foundation-model-vol-jepa/
#1ban #neurovfm #neuroimaging #foundation #model #tech -
A neuroimaging study revealed that a small subpopulation of individuals with schizophrenia who have a history of severe physical violence display heightened brain activity when anticipating punishment, rather than when receiving a reward or an actual punishment.
#Neuroscience #Psychiatry #Neuroimaging #Schizophrenia #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/07/ns07062601.html -
A neuroimaging study revealed that a small subpopulation of individuals with schizophrenia who have a history of severe physical violence display heightened brain activity when anticipating punishment, rather than when receiving a reward or an actual punishment.
#Neuroscience #Psychiatry #Neuroimaging #Schizophrenia #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/07/ns07062601.html -
Neuroimaging-derived biotypes of self-reported insomnia symptoms are differentially associated with affective symptoms
https://1ban.news/neuroimaging-biotypes-insomnia-affective-risk/
#1ban #neuroimaging #biotypes #insomnia #affective #sleep -
ggseg now draws brains without sf.
It installs without needing compiled GDAL, GEOS, or PROJ — so it runs on locked-down laptops, HPC clusters, and in the browser (webR/shinylive). Same geom_brain(), identical figures.
How & why 👉
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ggseg now draws brains without sf.
It installs without needing compiled GDAL, GEOS, or PROJ — so it runs on locked-down laptops, HPC clusters, and in the browser (webR/shinylive). Same geom_brain(), identical figures.
How & why 👉
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Study finds no detectable short-term brain harm after one youth soccer season https://www.rawchili.com/5029387/ #Adolescents #Biochemistry #blood #brain #Neuroimaging #Soccer
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At booth #39-40 today, Artinis & @NIRx Medical Technologies are demoing #fNIRS + #TMS, a powerful combination for brain stimulation research that gives you both the trigger and the response. Come, join us at 1 PM!
Visit booth #44 for:
🔹 APEX EEG + Brite fNIRS
🔹 SAGA EEG + NIRSport2 demos!https://www.artinis-nirx.com/ohbm-2026-bordeaux #🧠 #OHBM2026 #BrainStimulation #Neuroscience #Neuroimaging
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At booth #39-40 today, Artinis & @NIRx Medical Technologies are demoing #fNIRS + #TMS, a powerful combination for brain stimulation research that gives you both the trigger and the response. Come, join us at 1 PM!
Visit booth #44 for:
🔹 APEX EEG + Brite fNIRS
🔹 SAGA EEG + NIRSport2 demos!https://www.artinis-nirx.com/ohbm-2026-bordeaux #🧠 #OHBM2026 #BrainStimulation #Neuroscience #Neuroimaging
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🧠 Could the brain reveal vision loss more accurately than traditional eye tests?
🔗 Using Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials to Characterize Wide-Ranging Retinopathy Linked to CRB1: Implications for Clinical Trials. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal (CSBJ). DOI: https://doi.org/10.34133/csbj.0042
📚 CSBJ - A Science Partner Journal: https://spj.science.org/journal/csbj
#Neuroscience #Ophthalmology #RetinalDiseases #GeneTherapy #EEG #BrainResearch #DigitalHealth #PrecisionMedicine #Neuroimaging
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🧠 Could the brain reveal vision loss more accurately than traditional eye tests?
🔗 Using Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials to Characterize Wide-Ranging Retinopathy Linked to CRB1: Implications for Clinical Trials. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal (CSBJ). DOI: https://doi.org/10.34133/csbj.0042
📚 CSBJ - A Science Partner Journal: https://spj.science.org/journal/csbj
#Neuroscience #Ophthalmology #RetinalDiseases #GeneTherapy #EEG #BrainResearch #DigitalHealth #PrecisionMedicine #Neuroimaging
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Cerebellar flatmaps now in #ggsegverse!
We have now shipped across the ggsegverse the possibility to visualise the cerebellum parcellations also, based on the SUIT flatmap from the Diedriksen lab.
Read more about it https://ggsegverse.github.io/news/cerebellar-support/
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Cerebellar flatmaps now in #ggsegverse!
We have now shipped across the ggsegverse the possibility to visualise the cerebellum parcellations also, based on the SUIT flatmap from the Diedriksen lab.
Read more about it https://ggsegverse.github.io/news/cerebellar-support/
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Call for Papers: Human Neuroimaging Education Special Issue
Share training programs, open resources, AI in education and more.
Deadline: 31 Aug 2026
Guidelines: https://apertureneuro.org/for-authors
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Call for Papers: Human Neuroimaging Education Special Issue
Share training programs, open resources, AI in education and more.
Deadline: 31 Aug 2026
Guidelines: https://apertureneuro.org/for-authors
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#fMRT, macht die #Hirnaktivität sichtbar, doch die Interpretation wird häufig hinterfragt. Auch Forschende der @FAU ermittelten in einer #Studie eine Diskrepanz. Die Autoren sprechen jedoch nicht von Kritik an der Methode, sondern von #Erkenntnisgewinn für die fMRT-Bildgebung, wobei ein zweiter Blick neues offenbart...
Interessiert an mehr? Den #HintergrundArtikel von Larissa Tetsch findet ihr hier: https://www.laborjournal.de/editorials/3465.php
#Laborjournal #LifeSci #Neuroimaging #Neuroscience #Hirnforschung
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#fMRT, macht die #Hirnaktivität sichtbar, doch die Interpretation wird häufig hinterfragt. Auch Forschende der @FAU ermittelten in einer #Studie eine Diskrepanz. Die Autoren sprechen jedoch nicht von Kritik an der Methode, sondern von #Erkenntnisgewinn für die fMRT-Bildgebung, wobei ein zweiter Blick neues offenbart...
Interessiert an mehr? Den #HintergrundArtikel von Larissa Tetsch findet ihr hier: https://www.laborjournal.de/editorials/3465.php
#Laborjournal #LifeSci #Neuroimaging #Neuroscience #Hirnforschung
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Thank you for the incredible response to our recent #fNIRS Introduction Courses! Our next stop is #Sydney 🇦🇺
📅 Friday, April 24
⏰ 10 AM – 5 PM
📍 University of Sydney, Camperdown/Darlington CampusJoin us for a full day of hands-on learning and expert insights. Spots are limited 👉 https://zurl.co/HYf2l
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Thank you for the incredible response to our recent #fNIRS Introduction Courses! Our next stop is #Sydney 🇦🇺
📅 Friday, April 24
⏰ 10 AM – 5 PM
📍 University of Sydney, Camperdown/Darlington CampusJoin us for a full day of hands-on learning and expert insights. Spots are limited 👉 https://zurl.co/HYf2l
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Mind-bending visualization of brain spirals sweeping across the cortex — a stunning re-creation from Gong et al. Watch neural waves come alive and rethink how activity travels through the brain. Perfect for neuroscience lovers and visual explorers! #neuroscience #brain #neuroimaging #visualization #science #research #neuro #English
https://video.davidsterry.com/videos/watch/f4613fb1-0c22-4fb2-b95d-2505e5125204 -
New ggsegverse update!
I finally got around to pre-release new ggseg.extra (notice name change) package, for creating new atlases.
https://ggsegverse.github.io/news/ggseg.extra/
It's full of new features, and likely lots of new bugs.
I'd love folks to test how it works, I've really tried making things more robust and I hope its payed off! -
New ggsegverse update!
I finally got around to pre-release new ggseg.extra (notice name change) package, for creating new atlases.
https://ggsegverse.github.io/news/ggseg.extra/
It's full of new features, and likely lots of new bugs.
I'd love folks to test how it works, I've really tried making things more robust and I hope its payed off! -
neuromapr 0.2.1 has been accepted and published on CRAN!
Very excited to get this out to users in the simplest way possible, and hope the #rstats #neuroimaging community finds it useful!
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🧠 From setup to real-time decoding: how fNIRS-BCIs actually work. In Part 1 of our #fNIRS #BCI: Methodology and (clinical) application possibilities" webinar series, Dr. Bettina Sorger from Maastricht University & Dr. Franziska Klein from OFFIS guide you through system setup, experimental design, and the fundamentals of online analysis.
They also discuss the strengths & limitations of fNIRS compared to other BCI modalities.
▶️ https://zurl.co/pemtc
#Neuroscience #Neuroimaging