Acta Neuropsychiatrica

27/10/2025

🍄 What does the evidence say on Psilocybin Therapy in Depression?

📄 A new PRISMA-guided systematic review analyzed 22 clinical studies, including randomized controlled and open-label trials, assessing psilocybin for depressive disorders.

Populations included treatment-resistant depression and varied dosing and adjunctive protocols.

🌿 Results:
Psilocybin produced rapid antidepressant effects, often after one or two supported sessions.
Improvements were sustained for several weeks or months.
Treatment is generally well-tolerated with some mild headaches and transient anxiety - typically manageable in controlled settings.

🧩 Clinical relevance:
Psilocybin shows promise as a novel, mechanism-distinct intervention for depression.

🔗 Read the full review: https://doi.org/10.1017/neu.2025.10039

24/10/2025

🧩 Rethinking Schizophrenia

Emerging evidence suggests schizophrenia isn’t a single disorder — but two biologically distinct forms:

🔹 Major Neurocognitive Psychosis (MNP)

🔹 Simple Neurocognitive Psychosis (SNP)

Both differ in immune and metabolic pathways, especially in how the brain processes tryptophan (TRP). 🧠
⚡Proinflammatory cytokines activate breakdown into tryptophan catabolites (TRYCATs). However, some TRYCATs (like kynurenine, 3HK) are neurotoxic!

Patients with MNP exhibit 🔺 quinolinic acid and 🔻 kynurenic acid, shifting the quinolinic:kynurenic ratio toward neurotoxicity.

🎯 This ratio may be explored in precision therapeutics aimed at modulating TRYCAT metabolism to reduce neuroinflammation and cognitive impairment.

Read + here: https://doi.org/10.1017/neu.2025.5

17/10/2025

Navigating the Use of Xanomeline/Trospium (Cobenfy/KarXT)

KarXT marks a significant shift as the first muscarinic receptor agonist approved for schizophrenia. But who is the ideal candidate, and what should clinicians consider?

Our latest perspective paper breaks down the key patient profiles that may benefit most from this novel mechanism of action.

As a potent mid-tier option, to be considered after the failure of 1-2 standard antipsychotics. Shared decision-making, weighing symptom severity, side effects:

✅ Patients intolerant to D2-based antipsychotics
✅ Individuals with metabolic concerns
✅ Those with prominent cognitive & negative symptoms
✅ Partial responders
➡️ GI side effects can be a barrier.
➡️ Don't switch stable patients!

🔗 Read the full paper: https://doi.org/10.1017/neu.2025.10032

10/10/2025

📢We are excited to announce our lineup of plenary speakers for

The following distinguished international experts will be sharing their groundbreaking work and discussing the latest advancements in the field:

🔹David Nutt
🔹Barbara J. Sahakian
🔹Thomas Insel
🔹Marion Leboyer
🔹Ole Andreassen

We will be delighted to see them all in Glasgow in June 2026!

👉 Check the congress website and subscribe to our newsletter for all updates and information: https://cinp2026.org/subscribe.html

Don't miss this opportunity to meet the experts, expand your knowledge, and shape the future of mental health! 💫

10/10/2025

🎤 Voice over for measuring the physiological stress response.
What if the speech could be used as a digital biomarker of stress?
Using a validated stress-induction paradigm, researchers analyzed vocal features in relation to salivary cortisol and state anger.

Voice revealed:
🎵 Specific changes in speech rhythm, pitch, and energy correlated with rises in both cortisol and state anger.
🚻 These vocal patterns differed meaningfully between males and females.
🤖 Computational models demonstrated that speech can predict stress-related scores with moderate accuracy.

This work suggests that vocal analysis could become a practical, non-invasive tool for assessing acute stress in clinical and research settings.

Read the paper here: https://doi.org/10.1017/neu.2025.10037

25/09/2025

Is Clozapine use hindered? 🚧 A recent paper sheds light on how to transform care for treatment-resistant schizophrenia.

Clozapine initiation and maintenance are hampered by misconceptions about side effects and monitoring (e.g., hospitalization/frequent tests) 🩺📋, despite confidence in the guidelines.

Policy makers & clinical leaders: 💡 How are we investing in comprehensive, inter-professional training for clozapine management in our systems?

Check the paper to understand how this meta-analysis explored global disparities and charts a path to build competence across the entire healthcare team🌍

https://doi.org/10.1017/neu.2025.10024



Secchi

19/09/2025

🔬Molecular Mechanisms of Amisulpride
New cell study reveals the complex molecular footprint of the antipsychotic amisulpride.

📊Scientists treated neuroblastoma cells with amisulpride and discovered it changes the levels of key genes and proteins involved in:
🧬 Transcription (AP-1 Complex)
🧱 Cellular Structure (Cytoskeleton)
📦 Intracellular trafficking of receptors & Endocytosis
🧪 Epigenetics (Histone Binding)

These findings provide a deeper mechanistic understanding of its clinical effects and reveal potential treatment targets for schizophrenia.
🔗Find more on: https://doi.org/10.1017/neu.2025.10040

10/09/2025

📢 We are excited to announce that the CINP 2026 Congress in Glasgow will be held as a Joint Meeting with the Scandinavian College of Neuropsychopharmacology (SCNP).

As part of this event, SCNP will host a dedicated one-day meeting on Friday 26 June, open to all joint meeting delegates. The main CINP Congress programme will also feature:
🟢A Scandinavian Plenary Lecture
🟢Several SCNP-led symposia, and
🟢An SCNP Early Career Symposium, highlighting the work of emerging Scandinavian researchers selected through open competition.

We look forward to welcoming you to Glasgow in 2026 for what promises to be an outstanding meeting of science, innovation, and collaboration. 🌍

05/09/2025

💊GLP-1 Agonists and Opioid Abuse
New translational work examines whether GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) could support treatment and/or prevention in people living with opioid use disorder (OUD).

🛡️Early evidence suggests GLP-1 RA administration was linked to reduced risk of opioid overdose in humans.

🐁Complementary preclinical work shows converging effects: these agents reduce heroin-seeking behavior and opioid self-administration in animal models.

🍽️🧠How could these findings support integrated use?
LP-1 signaling intersects with reward pathways, satiety, and stress responses

📋🔍Still, more research is needed:
We need adequately large, randomized, well-controlled studies to confirm whether GLP-1 RAs deliver clinically meaningful improvements and risk reduction in OUD.

Check the paper at: https://doi.org/10.1017/neu.2025.10038

29/08/2025

🧠✨ Psychedelics & the Neuroimmune System

A new review in Acta Neuropsychiatrica explores how 5-HT2A receptor psychedelics interact with the immune system, and how this interplay may also drive neuronal changes.

🔬 Preclinical studies (in vitro & in vivo) point to immunomodulatory effects via:
🔹 Serotonin receptors
🔹 Sigma-1 receptor
🔹 TrkB receptor

For clinicians and researchers, these findings highlight the importance of looking beyond the synapse.

👉 The path forward should include the immune system crosstalk: bridging psychiatry, immunology, and neuroscience to fully understand how these agents are transforming the neuropsychiatry treatment

Read more on: https://doi.org/10.1017/neu.2025.10030

22/08/2025

🚨 Could AI Chatbots Worsen Mania in Bipolar Disorder?

A striking editorial suggests that chatbots may mirror and amplify the elevated mood of users prone to mania, acting like a form of "emotional contagion." 🧠

⚠️ The Risk:

AI isn’t causing bipolar disorder, but it could fuel mania by:

• Validating grandiose ideas

• Encouraging risk-taking with upbeat responses


🇪🇺 The AI Act and upcoming policies

LLMs like ChatGPT thrive on agreement, but:

→ Should chatbots prioritize user safety over engagement?

→ Must they detect and de-escalate harmful mental states?

→ Who’s liable if AI worsens a psychiatric crisis?


Dr Søren discussed the topic in this podcast (from 10min)

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Ak3TXt6zv7bktWsAsFFRr?si=YyvNxr7gQDWmOTYAM87oDg&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A25fEn4uqr9WaG103aur2SJ



Check the editorial at: https://doi.org/10.1017/neu.2025.10035

Emotion contagion through interaction with generative artificial intelligence chatbots may contribute to development and maintenance of mania

08/08/2025

🧩FGF19: Linking Smoke and Mental Health 🚬

Fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19) regulates a wide range of biological functions, including energy homeostasis, proliferation, survival, and migration, and has an emerging role as an oncology target.

A recent study examined FGF19 in the context of depression and smoking, revealing:

📊FGF19 levels were significantly associated with BDI depression scores across all participants.
🚭In non-smokers, higher FGF19 correlated with greater depressive symptoms but...
❌This link was absent in smokers, despite them having higher CSF FGF19 levels and higher BDI scores than non-smokers.

💡 Smoking onset and smoking period may also play different roles!
What clinicians should be aware?

🎗️These findings suggest FGF19 potential role in individuals at risk for developing depressive symptoms. Considering smoking status could be important when assessing both psychiatric and oncologic risk.

📄Check the paper: https://doi.org/10.1017/neu.2025.10028