Recent research has suggested that folic acid (vitamin B9) supplementation may reduce the risk of suicide attempts. However, a nationwide Swedish study, presented at European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) annual congress, indicates doubts over the benefits to supplementation, as folic acid appears to affect different sexes and age groups differently.

A pilot study suggests that low doses of LSD may have different effects on sustained attention in women and men, adding to growing evidence that people may not all respond to psychedelic microdosing in the same way.

The health of the next generation will be shaped not by one defining crisis, but by a set of 17 interlinked catastrophic threats spanning disease, social and economic conditions, environmental change, technology and conflict, finds a new Commission published in The Lancet and launched at the World Health Summit 2026 in Berlin. For the first time, it provides decision-makers with a common framework to understand these threats and target action.  

Intensive breathing exercises can reduce blood flow to the brain by up to 45% and alter communication between brain networks, according to a new brain-imaging study. Participants reported experiences resembling some effects of psychedelic drugs, including altered perception, vivid mental imagery, a sense of unity and changes in self-experience. The researchers, presenting the work at the ECNP Congress in Munich (following recent publication), say changes in brain communication, rather than reduced blood flow alone, appear to be key to the altered state.

Researchers have found that women with bipolar disorder who have regular menstrual cycles are more likely to report severe premenstrual symptoms than those with irregular cycles, according to preliminary research being presented at the 2026 ECNP Congress in Munich.

: A common blood test already carried out during routine health checks may contain clues about a person’s long-term risk of dementia, according to research being presented at the ECNP Congress in Munich and recently published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.