Researchers recorded alterations in levels of both dopamine and serotonin in the brain when people perform perception and decision making based tasks.
Obesity isn't just bad for physical health. Being overweight can have a significant impact on neurological health too. Researchers identified a link between obesity and reduced brain plasticity. Brain plasticity impairment could lead to cognitive and learning deficits in those suffering from obesity.
People who were avid gamers during childhood performed better at working memory tasks, even if they no longer played than their non-gaming peers.
Study identifies neurons in command of guiding adaptive behaviors.
Distinct personality traits emerge and manifest via both behavior and neural activity.
Repeatedly administered tactile simulation over a sustained period of time alters neural processing of the hand area in the brain. The observable changes over time illustrate neuroplasticity and shed new light on the process of learning.
Oxytocin, the so-called "love hormone," could help to treat cognitive disorders, including Alzheimer's disease. Researchers demonstrated oxytocin reversed the effects of amyloid-beta on hippocampal LTP in mice. The findings suggest oxytocin could be used as a therapeutic for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.
Dropping the level of the IL-33 immune molecule increased the number of synapses in the brain. In older mice, ramping up IL-33 helped push the number of new synapses toward a more youthful state.
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.
Adult born neurons are essential for synaptic structural remodeling and memory consolidation during REM sleep, a new mouse study found.
Neurons in the caudal pedunculopontine nucleus, an area of the brain that regulates motor coordination, switch neurotransmitters from acetylcholine to GABA as a result of exercise. The switch appears to provide feedback control that regulates motor coordination and skill learning.
The brains of adults who received hemispherectomies as children had unusually strong connections between functional brain networks in the remaining hemisphere, which help the body to function as if the brain were intact.
