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What Happens When You Try to Treat OCD With Psilocybin

WIRED

Colloquially, OCD is known as the doubting disorder. In his new book, Simone Stolzoff explores whether treating that uncertainty with magic mushrooms can help people through it. Adam Strauss is standing in his New York City apartment, holding the limp cord of his headphones, trying to choose between the two MP3 players on his desk: the iPod and the iRiver, its Korean counterpart. He tries different songs, different genres, different instruments. The iRiver tends to sound better overall, but the iPod offers a little more nuance in the midrange. The iPod has a better battery life, but the iRiver still lasts eight hours-- longer than he's ever continuously listened to music. Then again, he's never owned an MP3 player. He goes back and forth, back and forth, testing vocal ranges, button resistance, interface aesthetics. It would be one thing if it were just Adam's decision of which MP3 player to buy. After all, it was 2003, the height of the personal audio device revolution, and Adam was a 29-year-old audiophile. For Adam, it was also other decisions-- what shirt to wear to work, what to order for lunch, even what side of the street to walk down. At one point, in an effort to simplify his decisionmaking process for what to wear, Adam bought 11 identical blue button-down shirts. But he quickly found variations in each shirt's fit and fading. He believed there was a shirt to pick; each morning he would spend 20, 30, then 45 minutes trying to find it. If he could only determine which shirt was best, he could control his fate.


A brain implant to treat depression gets FDA greenlight to start trials

Popular Science

In theory, Motif Neurotech's berry-sized device would work like a continuous glucose monitor. More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. Patients receiving the experimental new implant would not need to undergo a complicated surgery. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Earlier this week, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a human trial for a blueberry-sized brain implant intended to target treatment-resistant depression.


The Men Obsessed With 'High T'

WIRED

Fueled by the manosphere, men are boosting their testosterone levels through natural and synthetic means, with some competitively swapping test results on a regular basis. Mark Holman was skinny and depressed when he was working a 9-to-5 job as an air quality engineering consultant in 2018. "I felt weak, like a boy," says the 33-year-old New Orleans native. Determined to turn things around, he spent the next few years becoming a health coach and getting chiseled abs. But in 2021, after becoming perplexed as to why he was disinterested in sex with his partner at the time, he decided to test his testosterone levels.


Best Massage Guns of 2026: Hyperice, Therabody, and More

WIRED

Massage guns used to be simple percussive devices. Now, they use vibrations, hot and cold therapy, and even LED light to ease post-workout pain and promote muscle recovery. Massage guns relieve muscle tension and increase blood flow for faster recovery . In her words, "As we exercise, we cause breakdown within the muscle fibers, which in turn stimulates muscle growth and regrowth, hypertrophy, and strength." After consulting the experts and testing them on myself pre-and post-workout, I've rounded up a lineup of the best massage guns, like our top pick, the Hyperice Hypervolt 2 ($229) .



'At 2am, it feels like someone's there': why Nigerians are choosing chatbots to give them advice and therapy

The Guardian

AI platforms offering first-line mental health support have proliferated in Nigeria, where health services are sparse and underfunded. AI platforms offering first-line mental health support have proliferated in Nigeria, where health services are sparse and underfunded. 'At 2am, it feels like someone's there': why Nigerians are choosing chatbots to give them advice and therapy O n a quiet evening in her Abuja hotel, Joy Adeboye, 23, sits on her bed clutching her phone, her mind racing and chest tightening. On her screen is yet another abusive message from her stalker - a man she had met nine months earlier at her church. He had asked Adeboye out; when she declined, he began sending her intimidating, insulting and blackmailing messages on social media, as well as spreading false information about her online.


Three technologies that will shape biotech in 2026

MIT Technology Review

Why personalized gene editing, genetic resurrections and embryo scoring made our list. Earlier this week, published its annual list of Ten Breakthrough Technologies. As always, it features technologies that made the news last year, and which--for better or worse--stand to make waves in the coming years. They're the technologies you should really be paying attention to. This year's list includes tech that's set to transform the energy industry, artificial intelligence, space travel --and of course biotech and health. Our breakthrough biotechnologies for 2026 involve editing a baby's genes and, separately, resurrecting genes from ancient species.


The Download: sodium-ion batteries and China's bright tech future

MIT Technology Review

Plus: This company is developing gene therapies for muscle growth, erectile dysfunction, and "radical longevity" For decades, lithium-ion batteries have powered our phones, laptops, and electric vehicles. But lithium's limited supply and volatile price have led the industry to seek more resilient alternatives. They work much like lithium-ion ones: they store and release energy by shuttling ions between two electrodes. But unlike lithium, a somewhat rare element that is currently mined in only a handful of countries, sodium is cheap and found everywhere. Read why it's poised to become more important to our energy future. Sodium-ion batteries are one of 10 Breakthrough Technologies this year.


The ascent of the AI therapist

MIT Technology Review

Four new books grapple with a global mental-health crisis and the dawn of algorithmic therapy. A technician adjusts the wiring inside the Mark I Perceptron. This early AI system was designed not by a mathematician but by a psychologist. More than a billion people worldwide suffer from a mental-health condition, according to the World Health Organization. The prevalence of anxiety and depression is growing in many demographics, particularly young people, and suicide is claiming hundreds of thousands of lives globally each year. Given the clear demand for accessible and affordable mental-health services, it's no wonder that people have looked to artificial intelligence for possible relief.


'Memory manipulation is inevitable': How rewriting memory in the lab might one day heal humans

Los Angeles Times

Things to Do in L.A. Tap to enable a layout that focuses on the article. 'Memory manipulation is inevitable': How rewriting memory in the lab might one day heal humans Professor and neuroscientist Steve Ramirez, shown working with brain samples, is exploring the science of memory manipulation. This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here . Scientists have found that memories are not static records but dynamic processes that change the brain's wiring each time they are recalled.