The Week of

Cortec Neuro announced that it successfully completed its second human implantation of its next-generation brain-computer interface (BCI) system, marking another important step in the technology’s real-world testing. 

This device is designed to help people with paralysis or severe motor impairments by reading brain signals and translating them into digital commands, offering a pathway for communication and control of external devices without physical movement.

This second implantation builds on earlier safety and feasibility milestones and brings Cortec closer to demonstrating that its BCI system can be used safely and effectively in humans outside of a laboratory setting. Here’s more: https://cortec-neuro.com/successful-second-human-implantation-bci-system/

Genentech announced encouraging late-stage clinical trial results for fenebrutinib, an experimental pill being tested in people with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). This is a form of MS that steadily worsens over time and has very few effective treatments. 

In a large Phase 3 study, fenebrutinib was shown to slow the progression of disability at least as well as the current standard treatment, with early signs that it may help preserve physical function, including the use of hands and arms. This is notable because PPMS has seen little therapeutic progress for more than a decade.
If approved, fenebrutinib would be the first new treatment in over ten years shown to meaningfully slow disability in PPMS, offering hope to patients who currently have limited options. Check it out: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260207932893/en/Genentechs-Fenebrutinib-Is-the-First-Investigational-Medicine-in-Over-a-Decade-That-Reduces-Disability-Progression-in-Primary-Progressive-Multiple-Sclerosis-PPMS

A long-term follow-up of the landmark ACTIVE trial found that a specific type of cognitive speed training was associated with a significantly lower risk of being diagnosed with dementia.

In the study, older adults who completed this targeted brain-training program plus booster sessions were about 25% less likely to develop dementia than those who received no training. 

What makes this result especially noteworthy is the duration and scale of the evidence: nearly 3,000 adults aged 65 and older were followed for two decades using real dementia diagnoses tracked through medical data. That long timeframe, plus the randomized study design, gives the findings rare weight in a field where convincing long-term prevention evidence has been scarce. Unlike short-term cognitive tests, this study suggests that even modest, structured mental training (if maintained with periodic reinforcement) may have lasting effects on lowering dementia risk later in life. Check it out: https://substack.com/home/post/p-187394961

Did you know that Ibogaine was first isolated from the African plant Tabernanthe iboga in 1900, at a time when Western medicine was actively experimenting with natural stimulants and tonics?

Early researchers noted that ibogaine had a local anesthetic effect similar to cocaine, along with stimulant properties comparable to the kola nut, which was widely used for energy and focus. Some reports even described aphrodisiac effects, placing ibogaine squarely within the class of substances that, in another context, might have become commercially popular.

Yet ibogaine never followed the path of coca or kola. Cultural stigma surrounding African-derived substances, inconsistent supply chains, and limited enthusiasm from the medical establishment all worked against its adoption. As a result, ibogaine remained on the margins, despite sporadic appearances in early-20th-century France in products marketed for conditions like fatigue, depression, neurasthenia, and even viral illnesses.

Rather than becoming a mainstream remedy, ibogaine faded into obscurity with its early promise largely overlooked for decades. But here we are today, in 2026, and Ibogaine is garnering massive support from researchers, doctors, policy makers, and handful of biotech players that are rapidly advancing the science.  

In fact, this interview with Leonard Pickard and Jonathan Sporn from Gilgamesh Pharma features an entire segment on Ibogaine analogs designed to treat addiction, combining Ibogaine's efficacy with an improved safety profile. Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEUV_Y7jddw&t=9s