Nature Biotechnology, Published online: 08 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41587-026-03193-2
Delivery of an in vivo–selected AAV into the glymphatics achieves broad transduction of human glial cells in chimeric mice.
Efficient targeting of human glial progenitor cells in vivo with engineered AAV vectors and glymphatic delivery
Nature Biotechnology, Published online: 08 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41587-026-03185-2
Viral vectors delivered through the brain glymphatics achieve widespread targeting of glial cells.
Oncology must confront hidden side effects
Nature Medicine, Published online: 08 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41591-026-04554-9
As a new generation of cancer drugs continues to extend the lives of people with cancer, strategies for recording and managing their toxicity and long-term effects will need innovation too.
Microglial TDP-43 mediates myelin refinement and represses Tyrobp cryptic exon inclusion in mice
Nature Neuroscience, Published online: 08 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41593-026-02348-3
Compagnion et al. show that TDP-43 loss in microglia causes myelin defects, oligodendrocyte precursor cell imbalance and motor deficits in mice. They identify TDP-43 as a regulator of the TREM2-DAP12 signaling, through the control of Tyrobp mis-splicing.
Another big premium hike on the horizon
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Good morning from your shriveled-up Fourth of July leftovers. On this day in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read in public for the first time, in Philly’s Independence Square. It was subsequently published in newspapers throughout the no-longer-colonies, though not always on the front page (!).
Millions of People in Canada Are Finding AI-Enabled Support for Mental Health Effective Amid Ongoing Questions Around Trust.
(OTTAWA) July 8, 2026 — New polling shows approximately six million people in Canada used AI-enabled tools for mental health support in the past year and most find them effective. Today, the Mental Health Commission of Canada (the Commission), in partnership with Mental Health Research Canada (MHRC) and Pollara Strategic Insights, releases the first nationally representative data on how people in Canada engage with digitally supported mental health tools, including AI and virtual care, across every province and demographic.
Quick Facts:
- 1 in 7 people in Canada used AI mental health tools in the past year
- Three out of four who used AI and virtual mental health services found them effective for their well-being
- Only 14 % trust AI tools, just 2% trust them completely
- 40 % of AI users said they were more likely to seek professional care
- Nearly half (45%) who accessed mental health care did so virtually, in whole or in part
WHY IT MATTERS
People in Canada are turning to AI as a convenient way to access mental health support. AI-enabled tools may offer greater convenience and accessibility. Among those surveyed, AI is being used because it is:
- Free or low-cost; 46% of AI users cite this as the reason they use it during a time when financial stress is itself a cause for anxiety.
- Always available; 44% of AI users cite 24/7 access.
- Immediate and convenient; it can be used from anywhere without travelling or waiting for an appointment. For someone in rural Canada, it saves time and travel costs.
- Seemingly private; 39 % of AI service users cite private, anonymous support as a reason for use, while privacy and data protection remain key public concerns.
AI is most used for general well-being (42%), companionship (36%), and mild-to-moderate stress (36%), and 40% of AI users said they were more likely to seek professional care.
WHO IS USING IT AND HOW MUCH DO THEY TRUST IT?
Use is higher among people in Canada under 35 (27%; 29% among men aged 25–34), newcomers to Canada (28%), racialized people in Canada (23%), and 2SLGBTQI+ communities (20%), populations that may experience greater barriers to traditional care.
Overall, trust remains low, particularly for AI-enabled tools, where only 2% of people in Canada trust them completely. People in Canada over 55 show the lowest adoption and trust.
VIRTUAL CARE: EFFECTIVE AND MORE TRUSTED BUT FALLS SHORT OF IN-PERSON SERVICES
45% of people in Canada who used mental health services in the past year did so virtually, with 75% reporting positive outcomes. However, nearly 1 in 3 prefer a hybrid model that combines virtual and in-person services. The data signals what people in Canada need: well-designed tools for safer digital mental health care that they can trust.
THE COMMISSION OFFERS GUIDANCE FOR THE DIGITAL MENTAL HEALTH ERA
The Commission is Canada’s trusted resource for safe digital mental health — assessing apps and tools, setting evidence-based standards, and leading the national conversation on guidance for AI in mental health and substance use health care.
As virtual services and AI-enabled tools continue to expand rapidly across the mental health landscape, there is a growing need for evidence-based insight into how people in Canada engage with, understand, and perceive them. The Commission partnered with MHRC to leverage their ongoing national polling initiative and provide timely insights into usage, attitudes, and concerns related to e-mental health and AI.
The polling is clear: people in Canada want to close the gap between availability and trust. The Commission is working with the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction and collaborators, provincial governments, technology developers, and health system partners to establish guidance for AI.
“Six million people in Canada have already used AI for mental health support and most found it convenient and effective for their well-being. It is critical that AI is safe and equitable to increase public trust and reduce harms.” – Lili-Anna Pereša, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mental Health Commission of Canada
“The people turning to digitally-supported mental health tools are often those facing some of the greatest barriers to care. Making sure these tools are safe, effective, evidence-based and human-centred is a matter of equity. Ongoing research is essential to understanding where they help and where safeguards are needed.”– Akela Peoples, Chief Executive Officer, Mental Health Research Canada
About Mental Health Commission of Canada
As an independent, not-for-profit with charitable status, the Commission collaborates with leading experts and organizations nationally and internationally, including with people with lived and living experience, to develop national guidelines, standards and strategies, promote innovation and best practices, reduce stigma, increase mental health literacy, and support all levels of government to improve mental health outcomes for everyone living in Canada. The Commission is Canada’s trusted resource for digital mental health best practices with the e-Mental Health Strategy for Canada, app assessment, e-modules for e-mental health implementation, and AI guidance for mental health and substance use health.
About Mental Health Research Canada
As an independent national charity, MHRC works hard to enable a future where mental health in Canada is transformed using evidence, data and stakeholder engagement. We unite researchers, communities, and people with lived experience to bridge gaps in care through national population polling, rapid data reporting, and partnerships that inform policy to improve outcomes. Learn more at www.mhrc.ca
About the Polling
Conducted by Pollara Strategic Insights in partnership with Mental Health Research Canada and the Mental Health Commission of Canada, this national poll (n=3,519) is the first representative data on AI use for mental health in Canada. Full findings: https://mentalhealthcommission.ca/AI-polling-report
About the Funding
The views in this report solely represent the views of the Mental Health Commission of Canada. Production of this report is made possible through financial contribution from Health Canada.
Media Contact
Heather Bakken, Pendulum Group
email: heather@pendulumgroup.ca
cell: 613-406-5432
The post Millions of People in Canada Are Finding AI-Enabled Support for Mental Health Effective Amid Ongoing Questions Around Trust. appeared first on Mental Health Commission of Canada.
Opinion: The AI licensure debate is missing the point of licensure
A cardiologist reviews an echocardiogram flagged by an algorithm she did not choose, trained on data she has never seen, deployed by a health system that did not ask for her input. The algorithm recommends a diagnosis. She disagrees. She overrides it. The patient does well.
No one will remember this moment. But if she had acquiesced and the patient suffered harm, she would be the one in the deposition, with her license on the line. Not the engineer who built the algorithm. Not the vendor who sold it. Not the health system that deployed it.
Are glucose monitors a good thing for 2-year-olds? Experts look at risks, benefits
You get a CGM, you get a CGM, everybody gets a CGM? For the first time in the United States, children 2 and older can also get a continuous glucose monitor without a doctor’s prescription.
Is that a good thing? The Food and Drug Administration thinks so.
STAT+: Trump administration pursues more durable changes to science policy after setbacks in court
Thousands of federal civil servants who academic researchers see as partners in conducting their work were fired. An unprecedented number of scientific projects funded by previous administrations were terminated. Universities were pressured to abandon diversity programs and work to curb health disparities. On a Friday evening, the government tried to push through a dramatic change to how it reimburses universities for research overhead.
All of these actions in the first year of the Trump administration were rapidly challenged in federal court, in many cases resulting in the administration having to walk back policies because they ran afoul of the Administrative Procedures Act, which governs how new policies and regulations are rolled out.
Andrew Twinamatsiko, who is director of the Center for Health Policy and the Law at Georgetown University and runs a health care litigation tracker, describes what happened last year as “tempests that we could weather” until there’s a new administration, when “there can be ways of reverting back to the baseline that we used to have.”
Opinion: STAT+: What’s the right role for AI in dementia care?
After Doug met Jane, he felt good. So too did Gabriella, his wife. Doug — a retired minister and writer — needed someone to talk to, and in conversation about his many accomplishments, Jane was indefatigable. For at least a few hours, Doug’s boredom vanished, and Gabriella no longer felt like an activities director on a cruise ship.
I wrote about Doug and Gabriella in my May Neurotransmissions column about ambiguous loss. Doug told me he was “bored, bored, bored,” and Gabriella said she struggled to find activities to relieve that boredom.
Jane was a solution. What she gave to Doug didn’t simply pass the time. It was a meaningful relationship. Except Jane wasn’t a person. She was an artificial intelligence chatbot.