Michael Halassa’s Blog
What Cobenfy Reveals About the Future of Psychiatry
How Cobenfy signals a shift in psychiatric drug development—from dopamine to muscarinic targets and algorithmic models of brain function.
Rewiring Psychosis: How Neuromodulation Is Shifting the Schizophrenia Treatment Paradigm
A Johns Hopkins study using deep brain stimulation for schizophrenia points to the substantia nigra and mediodorsal thalamus as key circuit nodes for symptom relief. This blog post explores how invasive and non-invasive neuromodulation is reshaping our approach to treatment-resistant psychosis—and why computation, not chemistry, may be psychiatry’s next frontier.
Why Mental Health Treatments Need Algorithmic “Flight Simulators
Discover how algorithmic psychiatry uses computational ‘flight simulators’ to predict mental health treatment outcomes across molecular, neural, and cognitive levels. Could this revolutionize care for schizophrenia and beyond?
The Self as a Coalition: How the Brain’s Distributed Systems Shape Mental Health
Explore how the brain’s reward-seeking and predictive systems interact, and how their tension underlies conditions like psychosis and mania. Learn how this framework can inform mental health treatment.
Chronic Stimulant Use and Psychosis: Risks, Mechanisms, and Treatment Insights
Discover the link between chronic stimulant use and psychosis, with insights from Mildred’s story and the science behind dopamine dysregulation. Learn about treatment options and prevention strategies.
Early Experience with Cobenfy: A Promising Schizophrenia Treatment for Specific Cases
Discover how Cobenfy (xanomeline/trospium), a novel muscarinic agonist, is transforming schizophrenia treatment for resistant cases, improving negative symptoms, and offering hope for patients
GABAergic Targeting in Psychotic Disorders: A Forgotten Piece of the Puzzle?
Michael Halassa discussed the overlooked potential for GABAergic systems in schizophrenia treatment. Both existing and upcoming medications are discussed.
Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia: An unmet need
Michael Halassa outlines the challenges in diagnosing schizophrenia when the most prominent attribute is negative symptoms.
Paper Alert! Revealing the Neural Basis of Executive Dysfunction in Schizophrenia
I would like to highlight a new paper that we published in collaboration with Neil Woodward’s lab at Vanderbilt, co-lead by research professors Anna Huang (Vanderbilt) and Ralf Wimmer (Tufts), with contributions from postdoctoral fellow Norman Lam and MSTP student...
KarXT: A New Medication for treating Schizophrenia
I recently participated in the 7th Neuropsychiatric Drug Development Summit in Boston, which was a refreshing experience. Steve Moss and I co-led a workshop focused on the integration of systems and cellular neuroscience as it relates to drug discovery (more on that...