IntroductionCognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the most common interventions for depression and has two key components: Cognitive Restructuring (CR) and Behavioral Activation (BA). However, no evidence-based guidelines exist to help clients and clinicians decide whether CBT would be a good first-line treatment for a given individual based on their personal characteristics, and which CBT intervention would benefit them more. We propose that specific capacities to learn from new information and experiences are prerequisites for response to CBT and that BA and CR require different learning capacities. In this study, we aim to develop predictive models of symptom change based on computationally-derived variables from behavioral tasks, in addition to clinical and demographic self-report data, to identify parameters and variables that can determine which individuals with depressive symptoms would benefit from CBT-based interventions and, ideally, which specific interventions they would benefit from more.Methods and analysisWe plan to recruit at least 1,500 adult participants who report having symptoms of depression and reside in U.S. After completing a series of questionnaires and behavioral tasks to assess their learning propensities, participants will be randomly assigned to a BA or a CR group. Using an online self-help tool, participants will then engage with designated modules according to their assigned group for five weeks. We will assess symptoms 1 week post-intervention (main end point of study) and follow up at 6, 18, and 42 weeks post-intervention. Upon enrolling and consenting into the main study, participants will be randomly assigned to either the training dataset or the held-out test dataset at a ratio of 2:1. This enables a clean separation of training and test datasets and prevent data leakage. We plan to build cross-validated predictive algorithms on the training dataset, and preregister our analysis plan before we validate our models and hypotheses in the held-out, unseen, test dataset. Enrollment of the study started 23rd January, 2024.Study protocol registrationClinicalTrials.gov, identifier (NCT06631183). The protocol follows the Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials (SPIRIT) guidelines. Numbers in brackets follow subsection numbers in the guidelines.
Empathy and alexithymia in essential tremor
BackgroundSocial cognition is increasingly recognized as part of the non-motor phenotype of essential tremor (ET). Available ET evidence suggests selective alterations in some socio-cognitive domains, whereas findings on self-reported empathy and alexithymia remain limited and inconsistent.ObjectivesThis cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate empathy and alexithymia in patients with ET compared with healthy controls (HC), and to explore their associations with global cognition and with each other.MethodsForty ET patients and 40 HC underwent the Italian versions of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), the short Empathy Quotient (EQ-short), and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20).ResultsET patients had significantly lower MoCA scores than HC (22.1 ± 4.1 vs. 25.3 ± 3.2, p<0.001), whereas no between-group differences emerged for EQ-short or TAS-20 scores. In ET, MoCA was not significantly associated with empathy or alexithymia measures. In HC, higher MoCA scores were associated with greater emotional reactivity. Exploratory bivariate analyses suggested inverse associations between social skills and alexithymia in ET, but only the adjusted ET models remained significant.ConclusionOur findings do not support a group-level deficit in self-reported empathy or alexithymia in ET. Rather, they suggest that socio-emotional functioning may be largely preserved at the group level, while the relationship between social skills and emotional self-description may differ in ET.
Sequencing peptides by reversing translation
Nature Biotechnology, Published online: 16 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41587-026-03108-1
A new peptide sequencing approach converts amino acids into DNA sequences, which are easily read.
Diversity-generating retroelements for programmable targeted hypermutagenesis
Nature Biotechnology, Published online: 16 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41587-026-03078-4
Diversity-generating retroelements are engineered for directed evolution in E.coli.
Trabectedin and low-dose irinotecan to target EWS::FLI1 in Ewing sarcoma: a phase 1/2 trial
Nature Medicine, Published online: 16 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41591-026-04340-7
In this phase 1/2 trial, patients with Ewing sarcoma received trabectedin and low-dose irinotecan at concentrations known to inhibit the activity of the transcription factor EWS::FLI1, leading to encouraging clinical response rates.
Integrated epidemiological and molecular data inform the relationship between precancer and cancer states of esophageal adenocarcinoma
Nature Medicine, Published online: 16 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41591-026-04331-8
Analyses of epidemiological, clinical and molecular data from a prospective cohort of 3,100 patients with esophageal carcinoma suggest intestinal metaplasia as a single precancer pathway preceding the disease.
Spatial and single-cell characterization of human glioblastoma tumor microenvironment reveals malignant cellular communities
Nature Neuroscience, Published online: 16 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41593-026-02265-5
Integrating spatial and single-cell data from 100 patients, the authors define conserved cellular communities and communications in glioblastoma, revealing distinct mesenchymal-like tumor subtypes and predominant neurogliomal synapses that shape tumor progression.
Spatial, temporal and Notch determination of terminal selector expression controls neuronal cell fate in the Drosophila optic lobe
Nature Neuroscience, Published online: 16 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41593-026-02256-6
The authors characterized the spatial origin of Drosophila medulla neurons, completing their previous characterization of the temporal and Notch origins of these neurons and allowing them to correlate patterning of progenitors and neuronal type-specific features.
The mental health parity gap is gaping
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STAT+: Roche to launch another Elevidys trial, with eyes on European approval
In an attempt to win European approval for the controversial medicine, Roche said Thursday it would run another trial of the Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy Elevidys.
The Swiss company’s move comes after European regulators last year gave a negative review to the therapy, saying it had failed to demonstrate long-term benefits for patients with the degenerative muscle condition. Roche has rights to the therapy outside the U.S., where it is marketed by its developer, Sarepta Therapeutics.
Roche said the Phase 3 trial will generate the type of evidence that could lead to a resubmission with European officials and to applications with regulatory agencies in other parts of the world. The study will evaluate the safety and efficacy of Elevidys versus placebo over 72 weeks in roughly 100 boys at the early stages of the disease.