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amygdala

·July 31, 2020·3 min read

‘Talkative’ Brain Regions Create Self-Control Challenges for Teens With Obesity

Obesity risk in teens appears to be associated with stronger connectivity within and between regions of the brain implicated in determining the salience of stimuli. This may have implications for reward processing. Researchers report executive control efforts in the brain decrease when salience and reward-processing regions are engaged in teens with obesity.

Featured Neuroscience

·July 27, 2020·4 min read

Brain Cell Types Identified That May Push Males to Fight and Have Sex

Mouse study reveals "on-off switch" nerve cells for male mating and aggression in the amygdala. MPN signaling cells in the amygdala that communicate with the hypothalamus are associated with reproductive behavior, and VMHvL signaling cells play a critical role in aggression.

Autism Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·July 14, 2020·4 min read

Autism Researchers Map Brain Circuitry of Social Preference

Study reveals how two neural circuits dictate the choice between social approach and avoidance. The network connecting the infralimbic cortex to the basolateral amygdala (BLA) impairs social behavior if there is a decrease in neural activity. Another network connecting the prelimbic cortex to the BLA similarly impairs social behavior if the neural activity is increased.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·July 13, 2020·3 min read

Why Are Memories Attached to Emotions so Strong?

Hippocampal neurons that respond to fearful stimuli relay that information to the amygdala. These neurons synchronize when memories of the stimuli are later recalled. The synchrony is critical to establish fear memories and the greater the synchrony, the stronger the memory becomes.

This shows the location of the amygdala in the brain

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·July 10, 2020·5 min read

Amygdala Changes in Male Patients with Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder

Study uncovers DNA hypermethylation is responsible for reduced amygdala volume in male patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

This shows a scary shadow and an anxious man

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·July 9, 2020·6 min read

How Fear Transforms into Anxiety

In anxiety, neural activity becomes elevated across many specific brain regions, and normal coordination between the networks becomes decreased.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·July 3, 2020·3 min read

Brain Connectivity in Cannabis Users

Examining the brains of frequent cannabis users, researchers have identified a pattern of connectivity related to craving the substance. The findings add weight to the idea that brain regions do not work in isolation, but via the connectivity of multiple networks that signal to each other depending on state and need. Brain connectivity during cannabis cravings is not static but has fluctuations in connection patterns between the central executive network and nucleus accumbens.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·June 5, 2020·5 min read

Chemical messenger in brain could point to better treatments for anxiety

Corticotropin-releasing factor and neuropeptide Y work in synchronized opposition to each other to remodel and rewire neurons in the amygdala as a response to stress. The process, researchers say, can be manually reversed to help relieve anxiety.

Featured Neuroscience

·June 2, 2020·4 min read

Your brain needs to be ready to remember?

When hippocampal firing rates are high before exposure to a learning task, people are better able to successfully encode memory. Findings suggest the hippocampus may have a "ready to encode" mode that facilitates memory recall.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·May 29, 2020·3 min read

Age, sex and smoking influence opioid receptor function in the brain

Age, sex, and gender influence the organization of the brain's opioid system. Findings shed light on why there are significant differences between the opioid system on an individual level, and why some are more prone to developing opioid-linked pathologies than others.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience Pain

·May 18, 2020·4 min read

Scientists find brain center that ‘profoundly’ shuts down pain

Researchers identified a distinct population of GABAergic neurons activated by general anesthetic in the central amygdala of mice. The findings point to central amygdala GABAergic neurons as a potential therapeutic target to alleviate chronic pain.