FeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·January 12, 2023·4 min readCommon Brain Network for Psychiatric Illness DiscoveredInvestigating four pre-existing, publically available psychological and neurological data sets, researchers identify a network of brain areas that underlie psychiatric disorders including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.Read More
FeaturedNeuroscienceOpen Neuroscience ArticlesPsychology·November 11, 2022·7 min readHow Do We Experience the Pain of Other People?The ability to empathize, or share the pain of others is mapped onto neurons in the insula, a new study reports.Read More
FeaturedNeuroscienceOpen Neuroscience Articles·October 25, 2022·4 min readHere’s How the Brain Works When We Choose to Help Someone in DangerThe same brain system that helps us to avoid danger is also activated during selfless, helping behaviors, allowing us to help others in danger.Read More
FeaturedNeuroscience·August 29, 2022·3 min readSeven New Areas in the Insular Cortex IdentifiedResearchers at the Human Brain Project have identified and mapped 7 new areas of the insular cortex.Read More
FeaturedNeurologyNeuroscience·June 9, 2022·3 min readBrain Changes Linked to Emotion Discovered in Mysterious ‘Broken Heart Syndrome’Takotsubo syndrome, a sudden form of acute heart failure often brought on by emotional or physical stress, is associated with changes in brain regions associated with emotion and emotional processing.Read More
FeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·December 12, 2021·3 min readSchizophrenia: Altered Brain Structural Connectivity and Association With Neurological Soft SignsA new study found altered cortical and subcortical networks in those with schizophrenia and their unaffected first-degree relatives. Findings suggest brain regions associated with a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia are partly separated from brain regions implicating neural abnormalities.Read More
FeaturedNeuroscience·November 18, 2021·5 min readThe Brain Uses Bodily Signals to Regulate FearStudy reveals how the brain relies on feedback from the body to regulate fear response. When a mouse's body freezes in response to fear, its heart rate slows, and this leads to attenuated insular cortex activity.Read More
FeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·November 12, 2021·4 min readAnxiety Cues Found in the Brain Despite Safe EnvironmentVirtual reality is helping researchers uncover some of the secrets of anxiety. Using VR, study participants were able to distinguish between safe and dangerous environments in a game. However, brain scans of those with anxiety showed increased activity in the insula and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex while in a safe zone, indicating their brains were associating the safe environment with threat or danger.Read More
FeaturedNeuroscienceOpen Neuroscience ArticlesPsychology·March 4, 2021·5 min readNeuroimaging Reveals How Ideology Affects Race PerceptionResearchers uncover the role activity in the anterior insula plays in how political ideology influences race perception.Read More
FeaturedNeuroscienceOpen Neuroscience Articles·September 17, 2020·6 min readStudy Shows How Fast Our Brains Are at ‘Recording’ New WordsCortical representations for the sounds and meanings of new words learned form within an hour or two following exposure.Read More
FeaturedNeuroscienceOpen Neuroscience Articles·August 26, 2020·6 min readGot Fatigue? Study Further Pinpoints Brain Regions That May Control ItNeuroimaging pinpoints areas of the brain that regulate efforts to deal with fatigue. The study reveals the neural mechanisms that contribute to feelings of fatigue.Read More
FeaturedOpen Neuroscience ArticlesPsychology·August 21, 2020·4 min readWhy Obeying Orders Can Make Us Do Terrible ThingsCoercion to perform detrimental actions against others reduces empathy and guilt, a new study reports. The findings may explain why people are able to commit immoral acts that go against their ethical stance when coerced.Read More
