A new study shows that an AI assistant can conduct assessment conversations with patients with higher accuracy than the rating scales used in healthcare today. In the study, 303 participants were interviewed by the AI ​​assistant Alba, who then suggested possible psychiatric diagnoses.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease caused by repetitive head impacts (RHI). However, individuals with similar RHI exposure have shown differing pathology, suggesting a role for genetic variation. While a common Transmembrane Protein106B (TMEM106B) risk variant has been associated with greater CTE severity, its mechanism has remained unclear until now.

TMEM106B helps regulate lysosomes—tiny recycling centers inside cells—and is especially important for microglia, the brain’s immune cells. Changes in this gene can alter how microglia clear waste and respond to damage, affecting inflammation throughout the brain.

A new study from BU’s CTE Center has found that a genetic difference in the TMEM106B gene can make brain inflammation worse in people who have repeated head injuries, making them more likely to develop serious brain problems like CTE and dementia. This is the first time anyone has shown that this gene variant changes how the brain’s immune cells (called microglia) react in CTE, connecting a genetic factor directly to the way the brain responds to repeated head injuries. This finding could lead to its use as a genetic marker predicting who may be most vulnerable.

It’s boomtime for corporate psychedelia.

In the past few weeks, biotech startup MindMed secured $259m to fund its development pipeline, and competitors atai Life Sciences and Beckley Psytech merged to form AtaiBeckley.

Despite the hype around the benefits of psychedelics for mental health treatment, political economist Dr Sandy Brian Hager warns the “shroom boom” may be heading for a bust.

His study suggests investors could be spooked once more, because:

- Difficult to patent: Psychedelics cannot easily be patented, which turns off investors

- Unpredictable effects: Trips are subjective and can last up to 15 hours, complicating laboratory testing.

Pharma startups are responding by developing new classes of drugs:

- “Neuroplastogens”: All the warm and fuzzy feelings of connection without the hallucinations

- Ultra-short, intense trips: Newer compounds that cause very intense trips lasting only minutes, “at the time scale of a dental cleaning”.

For all the talk of a mental health revolution, psychedelics may deliver little more than business as usual, says Dr Hager.