A small-molecule metabolite produced by gut bacteria in mice, can travel to the brain and alter brain cell function, inducing anxiety behaviors.
A new study sheds light on the gut-to-brain osmolality signaling that regulates thirst, revealing a sensory pathway that mediates the process.
Mice learn 1,000 times faster when faced with unfamiliar environment tasks than when learning simple, yet unnatural tasks.
Researchers identified the gut bacteria E. faecalis as a mediator of social behavior and corticosterone levels in mice.
Artificial intelligence technology is able to break down a painting's visual attributes. Trained by data from online users, the deep convolutional neural network was accurately able to predict an individual's taste in art.
Focused ultrasound allowed researchers to record and monitor brain activity in a non-invasive way. The technology allowed the researchers to predict movement.
A new theoretical study proposes new models outlining the relationship between personality, genes, and behaviors. Researchers also propose a method to discover where personality resides in the brain, and how it relates to other psychological functions including memory and emotion.
Activity in the medial preoptic area tilts the mouse brain toward love and affection, while activity in the ventromedial hypothalamus is associated with more aggressive or hateful acts.
Hard wired neural circuits in mice that govern aggression are strengthened following victories in aggressive encounters. Synapses in the hypothalamus show signs of LTP following aggression training.
When a mouse senses a threat, neurons in the ventromedial hypothalamus become activated and remain active for ten seconds after the threat is removed. Fear responses could be induced by artificially stimulating these neurons. Artificially silencing the neurons reduced fear behavior.
Study identifies a different set of individual neurons in the medial frontal cortex that is responsible for memory-based decision making. The findings have implications for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, and other disorders associated with problems in cognitive flexibility.
The brain chooses between two neural systems responsible for emulation learning and imitation learning. Study reveals how the brain chooses which strategy to employ when faced with an observational learning task.
