New research led by the University of Plymouth, with partners at universities and healthcare facilities in the UK and USA, has found that targeted ultrasound can be used to change the function of a deep region of the human brain. Specifically, it can be used to target the nucleus accumbens, a tiny element of the human brain triggered when we experience something enjoyable, and used to help us learn behaviours that lead to rewards. With surgical treatments currently the only option to target this area of the brain, those behind the study believe it marks a turning point for neurotechnology, showing that a non-invasive ultrasound approach can influence behaviour and may one day help restore mental balance.

Researchers at Fudan University established the first cohort-scale long-read sequencing (LRS) resource for schizophrenia, comprising 141 Chinese cases (CN_SCZ), to systematically characterize structural variants (SVs) often missed by short-read sequencing. On average, 16,408 SVs were identified per sample. Schizophrenia-specific SVs were enriched in known genomic hotspots, such as 16p12.1, and showed a strong tendency for tandem repeat expansions. Using their in-house tool SVJudge, the team identified 358 potentially pathogenic SVs, including 197 predicted to disrupt transcription factor binding in brain regulatory networks. From these variants, 82 risk genes were prioritized—23 newly implicated—and found enriched in neurodevelopmental and synaptic pathways. These findings refine the genetic landscape of schizophrenia and offer new insights for future mechanistic and therapeutic research.