Aug 11, 2026 | NBC San Diego

UC Irvine Research Study How Ibogaine May Help Treat Opioid Addiction

Researchers at UC Irvine are trying to answer one of the biggest questions about ibogaine, a psychedelic that is still illegal in the United States, but which is increasingly becoming a focus for scientists trying to unlock its potential healing power. Professor Rick Harris is the neuroscientist leading the effort, working with volunteers. “Our group is trying to understand how the ibogaine might be working to break addictive circuitry” he says

Aug 11, 2026 | National Institutes of Health

Childhood Screen Detects Mental Health Risk

An NIH-funded research team led by Dr. Tallie Z. Baram at the University of California, Irvine and Dr. Laura Glynn at Chapman University …. added five unpredictability measures to a current adversity screen. They tested whether these measures helped improve the detection of childhood mental health conditions.

Aug 10, 2026 | Medical Xpress

Different Inflammatory Processes Tied to the Same Alzheimer's Disease-Related Brain Shrinkage and Memory Loss

"We keep talking about Alzheimer's as though it is one disease with one cause, but the biology is much messier than that," said senior author Michael A. Yassa, PhD, professor and James L. McGaugh Endowed Chair in Neurobiology and Behavior and director of UC Irvine's Center for the Neurobiology of Learning & Memory.

Aug 08, 2026 | Inc.

Scientists Just Discovered a New Brain Phase Between 50 and 75. It May Help Explain Cognitive Decline

“Importantly, this study reveals that aging is not simply a gradual decline, but involves coordinated and dynamic remodeling of immune, vascular, and neuronal systems,” said Xiangmin Xu, PhD, a co-corresponding author and director of the Center for Neural Circuit Mapping at UC Irvine told Sci Tech Daily.

Aug 06, 2026 | Parade

Why Quitting Antidepressants 'Cold Turkey' Causes a Shock To Your Body, says Psychiatrists

Dr. Bryan Shapiro, MD, is a board-certified UCI Health psychiatrist. He explains that when you take antidepressants for months or years, the brain adapts. “Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like Zoloft or Lexapro increase brain serotonin levels, and in response, serotonin receptors become less sensitive over time (a process called downregulation),” he says.

Aug 06, 2026 | Brain & Behavior Research Foundation

Unpredictability Is an Important Childhood Adversity That a Simple Screen Can Capture, Study Shows

This observation is made by a team led by BBRF Scientific Council member Tallie Z. Baram, MD, PhD, of the University of California Irvine, in a newly published paper in Nature Mental Health reporting on their efforts to test a new screening instrument designed to capture sources of stress and trauma occurring in childhood that may be missed in existing screens

Aug 06, 2026 | ABC7

With Several Foodborne Illness Outbreaks Nationwide, Here's How to Avoid Getting Sick

"I do think when you go out to eat, if anything looks unhealthy, it doesn't look like... meat (is) cooked fully or you see evidence of spoilage on any type of produce - those are all things to bring awareness to the manager or whoever it is that served you the food and say maybe this isn't the right thing to be eating today," said Dr. Shruti Gohil, with UCI Health Epidemiology and Infection Prevention.