Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging
September 9, 2026
Philip N Tubiolo, Yash Patel, Alexandria Trepiccione et al.
Few human imaging studies investigate psychotogenic models during late adolescence. The "triple network" model posits that hallucinations are related to abnormal connectivity among the frontoparietal (FPN), default mode (DMN) and salience/cingulo-opercular (CON) networks but has not been tested during this age range, and is not well integrated with the hyper-dopaminergic model of psychosis. We...
September 9, 2026
Csaba Gal
preprint
Caffeine is widely studied as a facilitator of externally directed cognition, yet comparatively little is known about its effects on spontaneous cognition when external behavioural demands are weak. This paper proposes that caffeine can induce a distinctive state of ego-confrontation during rest. Acute caffeine reduces posterior default mode network (DMN) coherence while increasing DMN temporal...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
September 9, 2026
C Zarate
Abstract Background Ketamine produces rapid antidepressant and anti-anhedonic effects in treatment-resistant depression, but response is heterogeneous and mechanisms at the circuit level remain incompletely defined. Convergent imaging work implicates anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and reward-related networks as key loci for ketamine’s therapeutic and...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
September 9, 2026
Claudio Agnorelli, Joseph Peill, Danielle Kurtin et al.
Abstract Background Clinical studies have shown that ketamine and classic psychedelics can produce robust and rapid antidepressant effects after a single or a few administrations. However, the neurobiological mechanisms driving these long-lasting changes remain unclear. A leading framework proposes that both drug classes induce sustained increases in neuroplasticity, potentially reshaping...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
September 9, 2026
David Erritzøe
Abstract Background Recent clinical and neuroscientific work has revived interest in psychedelic-assisted therapies as promising treatments for a range of psychiatric conditions. Mechanistically, classical psychedelics and atypical agents such as ketamine appear to act as catalysts of neural and psychological flexibility, disrupting entrenched patterns of activity in “stuck” brain networks and...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
September 9, 2026
A Solomon, Y Domany
Abstract Background A critical gap exists in understanding the biological mechanism linking ketamine’s rapid anti-suicidal effects to the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (IPTS). While the "Kinetic Mismatch" between acute relief and delayed synaptogenesis is well-known, current models overlook how ketamine modulates “Thwarted Belongingness” (a core IPTS pillar) and the attachment anxiety that...
Biosystems
September 8, 2026
Emiliano Bruner
Frequently, the terms self and ego are employed as synonyms. From the one hand, this can obscure and confound different experiences related to consciousness. On the other hand, this can limit the use of these concepts when trying to express the human potential, and enhance well-being. Following the principles of ecology, system theory, and extended cognition, I propose an operational definition...
Molecular Psychiatry
September 2, 2026
Yunkai Sun, Yehong Fang, Pu Peng et al.
Marked interindividual heterogeneity in substance use disorder (SUD) impedes the identification of consistent neuroanatomical alterations, limiting the development of robust markers for clinical risk stratification. We applied a normative modeling framework to explore individual neuroanatomical deviations in individuals with SUD across two distinct substance classes, and assessed their...
Brain Topography
September 2, 2026
Shiva Khoshnoud, Federico Alvarez Igarzábal, Marc Wittmann
Flow, as defined by Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi (1975), is a holistic experience in which individuals are fully immersed in an activity, resulting in a diminished sense of self and an altered perception of time. To investigate the global neural dynamics underlying flow, we employed EEG microstate analysis, which capture the spatial and temporal properties of dominant transient global brain states...
Brain and Behavior
August 30, 2026
Waqar Husain, Achraf Ammar, Urwa‐Tul Wusqa et al.
BACKGROUND: Religious and spiritual practices are among the most ancient and universal human behaviors, yet their neurobiological substrates remain incompletely characterized. Neurotheology-the scientific study of the relationship between spiritual experience and brain function-has produced growing evidence that such practices generate measurable, systematic, and neuroplastic changes in brain...