Adolescents exposed to repeated trauma may have a maladaptive response to acute stress in important functional brain networks.
The accumulation of amyloid-beta and tau proteins disrupts the connections between brain regions associated with memory years before symptoms of Alzheimer's disease appear.
The brains of newborns already contain five critical networks, including high-level visual and somatosensory networks that are similar to those seen in adult brains. Researchers identified multiple genes from brain tissue samples that may have led to the specific brain organization in newborns.
Heavy drinkers and those at risk of alcohol use disorder show reduced communication between brain areas associated with social and emotional processing.
Withdrawal from psychostimulants including methamphetamines, cocaine, and nicotine, produced restructuring of brain regions and major increases in functional connectivity, a new mouse study reveals.
Stroke survivors who listened to vocal music had improved recovery of structural connectivity of language networks in the left frontal lobe compared to those who listened to audiobooks.
Children who are physically active have higher cognitive function and increased functional connectivity in the brain later in life than those who are less active, a new study reports.
Patients with schizophrenia, but not those with social anhedonia, exhibited deficits in real-life social network size. Those with schizophrenia and those with social anhedonia had reversals functional connectivity to one another. People with schizophrenia showed decreased segregation and functional connectivity in brain areas associated with social behaviors, while those with social anhedonia had an increase in connectivity and segregation.
Functional connectivity was reduced within and between several brain networks in children raised in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Researchers say a positive home and school environment can mitigate some of the effects.
Researchers have uncovered the neural mechanism underlying rumination. The study reports when rumination occurs, coupling between the core and medial temporal lobe subsystems of the default mode network becomes elevated, while coupling between the core and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex decreases.
Cortical thickness and regional brain connectivity pay an equally important role in linking brain and behavior.
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.
