Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior
June 30, 2026
Lucie Ladislavová, Viera Kútná, Kristýna Mazochová et al.
Chronic microdosing of psilocin (0.05 or 0.075 mg/kg) in adult male Wistar rats over five weeks did not alter locomotor activity, depressive-like behavior, sociability, or novelty seeking, and did not increase cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. A small anxiogenic effect was detected in the Elevated Plus Maze. The findings suggest that, under this dosing schedule, psilocin microdosing produces limited behavioral effects and does not enhance hippocampal progenitor proliferation.
Mindfulness
June 26, 2026
Jiaxiong Irvin Li, Brian M. Galla, Michael J. Tumminia
Adolescents who attended a six-day mindfulness retreat reported applying mindfulness skills in both personal and social contexts one month later. All 15 participants described intrapersonal benefits such as self-awareness, emotional regulation, self-compassion, and broader perspective. Many also described interpersonal applications: 73% used mindfulness to navigate social anxiety and build connections, 67% engaged in more compassionate communication including active listening and emotional support, and 53% reported greater empathy and perspective-taking. The findings suggest that an immersive retreat can help adolescents transfer mindfulness skills to real-world developmental challenges, supporting both internal well-being and social relationships.
Revista de investigación en musicoterapia MiSOSTENiDO
June 23, 2026
Ornella Navanzino
A theoretical analysis integrates the 4E Cognition framework—which views cognition as embodied, embedded, enacted, and extended—with conductive improvisation practices used in music therapy. The authors argue that conductive improvisation, guided by gestural conduction and deep listening, can act as an external regulatory system that supports affective co-regulation, reduces anxiety, and strengthens bodily self-awareness. This approach provides clinical scaffolding that fosters intersubjective attunement and shared agency. The integration allows music therapy to be understood as an embodied, enactive, and distributed process where the relational body is central to emotional regulation and stress management.
Research Square
June 19, 2026
Aline Frick, Grace Blest‐hopley, Manesh Grin et al.
In a reanalysis of a six-week randomized controlled trial comparing psilocybin with escitalopram for moderate-to-severe major depressive disorder, sex-related patterns emerged for anxiety and anhedonia. Women receiving psilocybin showed greater reductions in anxiety than men, while women receiving escitalopram showed greater reductions in anhedonia than men. For other depressive symptoms, thought suppression, and well-being, sex differences were small and uncertain. Sexual dysfunction severity was lower overall in the psilocybin group than in the escitalopram group and lower in women than in men, though the treatment-by-sex interaction was not significant. These preliminary findings suggest that responses to these serotonergic treatments may differ between women and men, supporting the need for adequately powered, sex-balanced trials.
Journal of medical Internet research
June 17, 2026
Acacia C Parks, Amanda L Woodward, Robert D Henry et al.
A large analysis of 3,870 patients with moderate-to-severe depression, anxiety, or PTSD who used a telehealth program for at-home subcutaneous ketamine found significant symptom reductions after about six weeks. Depression scores on the PHQ-9 fell from 14.6 to 6.3, anxiety scores on the GAD-7 from 13.1 to 6.1, and PTSD scores on the PCL-5 from 46.7 to 27.5, all with large effect sizes. Over 80% of patients achieved a clinically meaningful improvement. Adverse events were low (2.8%-3.2%), and no serious complications occurred. The results suggest that supervised at-home subcutaneous ketamine is a safe and effective option that could expand access to rapid-acting treatment.
Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy
June 17, 2026
Małgorzata Potoczna, Natalia Kasica, Małgorzata Chmielewska-Krzesińska et al.
Zebrafish larvae are increasingly used to study anxiety and stress, but it is unclear whether common behavioral tests and molecular stress markers give consistent results. This study tested several drugs with known anxiety- or depression-related effects, including diazepam, amitriptyline, and fluoxetine, along with other compounds like psilocybin. Diazepam showed the most consistent anxiety-reducing behavioral effects, but this was not accompanied by lower cortisol levels or normalized stress-related gene expression. Amitriptyline reduced cortisol but only partially affected behavior. Other drugs altered movement in ways that could reflect sedation rather than anxiety relief. The findings suggest that behavioral and molecular measures should not be treated as equivalent indicators of anxiety; instead, combining them provides a more nuanced profiling approach to identify specific drug effects and avoid misinterpretation.
Psychiatry research
June 16, 2026
Filippo Mazzoni, Fabiola Raffone, Arianna De Ciechi et al.
Among 90 outpatients with treatment-resistant depression, half also had borderline personality disorder (BPD). Depressive symptoms, measured by the MADRS scale, improved substantially over six months of intranasal esketamine treatment. The BPD group showed faster early improvement, and from one month onward had higher response rates (≥50% reduction in symptoms). Remission rates at six months were similar between groups (48.9% with BPD vs. 57.8% without). Anxiety and impulsivity decreased across the whole sample, and cognitive function did not worsen. No serious adverse events or dropouts occurred. Comorbid BPD did not hinder the overall remission outcome.
Actas espanolas de psiquiatria
June 15, 2026
Xinrong Zheng, Qijun Zhang, Hesheng Zhuang
Patients with pneumonia-induced sepsis who received personalized nursing combined with Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) showed greater reductions in anxiety and depression, and greater improvements in self-efficacy, quality of life, and self-care ability compared with those receiving routine nursing alone. The combined nursing group (68 patients) had significantly lower scores on the Hamilton Anxiety Scale and Hamilton Depression Scale, and significantly higher scores on measures of self-efficacy, quality of life, and self-care ability than the routine nursing group (59 patients). The findings suggest that integrating personalized nursing with MBSR may be a beneficial strategy for improving psychological and functional outcomes in this patient population.
Australasian psychiatry : bulletin of Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists
June 11, 2026
Eden Mane, Saras Mane
A systematic review of telehealth-supported ketamine for depression and anxiety in adults found that, across three US commercial provider studies, symptom response rates ranged from 49.5% to 62.8% on the PHQ-9 and 47.6% to 62.9% on the GAD-7, with remission rates of 20.7% to 32.6% and 23.9% to 31.3%, respectively. However, all studies were at critical risk of bias, the evidence certainty was very low, and follow-up data were available for only a minority of the up to 16,876 patients. The review concludes that the evidence is provider-generated and insufficient to guide clinical practice, though it may inform future hybrid service design in Australasia.
June 4, 2026
Jason B Luoma, M. Kati Lear, Brian Pilecki et al.
preprint
MDMA-Assisted Therapy (MDMA-AT) produced a large reduction in social anxiety symptoms compared to a waitlist condition in adults with social anxiety disorder. In a randomized open-label trial of 20 participants, those receiving MDMA-AT showed an average decrease of 43.3 points on the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale after 16 weeks, while the waitlist group did not. Improvements also occurred in functioning, shame, acceptance, belongingness, self-concealment, and self-compassion. Adverse events were mild to moderate and temporary; no serious adverse events occurred. These preliminary findings suggest MDMA-AT is safe and feasible for social anxiety disorder and warrant further research.
Future oncology
June 1, 2026
Minqing Huang, Guiling Huang, Fang Wang et al.
An 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program, including mindful breathing, body scan, and meditation, significantly reduced chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, depression, and anxiety in patients with colorectal cancer. In a retrospective cohort of 301 patients, those who completed MBSR had higher FLIE nausea and vomiting scores and lower PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores over four chemotherapy cycles compared to those receiving routine care only. The MBSR group showed declining symptom scores from baseline through treatment, indicating that MBSR effectively alleviates both physical and psychological distress and improves quality of life.