Pharmacological Reports
June 12, 2026
Wojciech Ziemichód, Natalia Kajka, Klaudia Kister et al.
The glutamatergic system, particularly N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, has long been a significant focus of research into new strategies for treating depression, and the clinical success of ketamine, an NMDA receptor antagonist, has been a significant breakthrough. In parallel, α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors, another key component of the...
Cureus
June 1, 2026
Hoi Ki Cheung, Ngo Cheung
A proportion of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) continue to experience disabling symptoms despite standard serotonergic treatment, antipsychotic augmentation, and psychological input. Contamination-focused OCD can be especially persistent when rituals are embedded in the home environment and reinforced by family patterns. Recent work has drawn attention to glutamatergic...
Asian Journal of Psychiatry
June 1, 2026
Hariprasad Ganapathy Vijayakumar, Varsha Shamanna, Harsh Pathak et al.
1 citation
Treatment resistance in bipolar depression is one of the most challenging clinical conditions to treat in psychiatry. We present a case of an elderly gentleman with chronic Multi-Therapy Resistant Bipolar Depression (MTRBD), where ketamine, a preferential NMDAR blocker on cortical GABAergic interneurons, is used adjunctively with sequential theta burst stimulation (sTBS) to achieve remission....
Brain Stimulation
May 21, 2026
Lucas Dwiel, Mackenzi L. Prina, Elise Bragg et al.
A leading theory for how psychedelics are able to produce robust clinical improvement and preclinical behavioral changes is that psychedelics act through neuroplastic mechanisms to induce lasting structural and functional alterations in neural circuits. However, psychedelics produce these effects across wide swaths of the brain. Based on our prior work, we hypothesized that engaging a specific...
May 13, 2026
Robin Carhart-Harris, Richard J. Zeifman, Lorenzo Pasquini et al.
preprint
First-line dictionary definitions of ‘plasticity’ describe it as the ability (of a thing) to be shaped or molded; we call this ‘plasticity proper’. In neuroscience, however, ‘neural plasticity’ or ‘neuroplasticity’ is defined as an induced change in brain function or structure. These two plasticities are not the same. Several (but not all) popular biomarkers of neuroplasticity index part of an...
Cell Reports Medicine
May 7, 2026
Mihai Avram, Aurore Menegaux, Felix Müller et al.
1 citation
The clinical trial NCT03866252 investigates the antidepressant effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in 61 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) randomized to low-dose LSD (LD-LSD; 2 × 25 μg) or moderate-to-high-dose LSD (HD-LSD; 100 μg followed by 200 μg) 4 weeks apart. Although the trial reports positive clinical outcomes, underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we test...
Neurorehabilitation
May 1, 2026
Paul Olowoyo, Adefolarin Malomo, Kehinde Adigun et al.
BackgroundSpirituality is an essentially universal human experience and is incorporated into concepts of health and well-being in many cultures. The spiritual domain of quality of life, spared in the disability paradox, may be harnessed for recovery through internal adaptation and coping skills. This can help the individual attain his/her full potential while optimizing health-related quality...
Brain Sciences
April 30, 2026
Colin Rafter, Erika McCarthy, Curt Stilp et al.
Background/Objectives: Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been linked to psychological and cognitive benefits, yet evidence for their impact on brain structure remains sparse. Neuroimaging suggests MBIs may alter gray matter volume (GMV), density (GMD), and cortical thickness (CT). The purpose of this scoping review was to investigate structural neuroplasticity following MBIs. Methods:...
Cell
April 30, 2026
Hermany Munguba, Anisul Arefin, Ryota Hasegawa et al.
4 citations
Depression is driven by dysfunction in discrete neural circuits, but a deeper understanding of the underlying molecular and synaptic mechanisms is needed to guide the development of therapeutics. Here, we decipher the mechanisms of action of the fast-acting antidepressant ketamine to enable the identification of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) antidepressant targets. We find that the...
Pharmaceuticals
April 24, 2026
Pietro Carmellini, Alessandro Cuomo, Maria Beatrice Rescalli et al.
Background/Objectives: Major depressive disorder (MDD) remains a leading cause of disability worldwide and exhibits substantial biological heterogeneity that is not adequately captured by current symptom-based diagnostic systems. While the classical monoamine hypothesis has historically guided antidepressant development, it does not fully account for variability in treatment response, delayed...