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mPFC

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·September 1, 2020·4 min read

Study Sheds Light on Brain Mechanism Activated by Uncertainty

Neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex respond more to loss than to gain. Avoidance of risk-taking is affected by an area of the hippocampus that is associated with memory and anxiety. The findings suggest a close relationship between memory processing and decision making when risk is present, especially in stressful situations. The fresh insights might help guide new psychiatric therapies for disorders marked by excessive avoidance, such as anxiety, and depression, and also mania and addiction, where excessive risk-taking is a common feature.

Featured Neurology Open Neuroscience Articles

·August 11, 2020·5 min read

Aging Memories May Not Be ‘Worse,’ Just ‘Different’

Aging may alter neural processes for remembering continuous real-world experiences and segmenting memories.

Autism Featured Open Neuroscience Articles

·August 4, 2020·4 min read

Greater Excitability in Social Brain Regions of Autistic Men Compared to Women

Males with autism have atypically enhanced excitation in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). This area of the brain is associated with social cognition and self-reflection. Autistic women showed a more intact mPFC response, which was associated with a better ability to camouflage social difficulties in real-world settings.

This shows a brain and print out from the study

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·June 16, 2020·4 min read

Your brain shows if you are lonely or not

In the medial prefrontal cortex, loneliness is associated with a reduced representational similarity between the self and others. Feeling socially disconnected may be mirrored by a self-representation of being a "loner."

Featured Neuroscience

·June 15, 2020·1 min read

Loneliness alters your brain’s social network

Loneliness alters how the brain represents relationships, a new study reports.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·March 2, 2020·2 min read

Coping strategies, a matter of neuron

Researchers uncover a key role of medial prefrontal cortex corticotropin-releasing factor interneurons for bidirectionally controlling motivated behavioral styles under stress. The findings could help in the development of new treatments for PTSD.

This shows the mPFC and striatum highligted on a brain scan

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·January 17, 2020·5 min read

Rich rewards: ADHD medication’s effect on the brain

Methylphenidate may boost norepinephrine levels in the prefrontal cortex, which in turn regulates dopaminergic neurons firing in the striatum, when a reward is delivered. The study sheds new light on how medications for ADHD affect the reward system in the brain.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·December 26, 2019·5 min read

How to tell if a brain is awake

Study finds EEG features may not always be accurate in being able to capture the level of consciousness in patients under anesthesia.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·December 13, 2019·6 min read

Deepening our understanding of selfish behavior

Study identifies distinct neural processes that occur when we make decisions for the benefit of ourselves and of others.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·November 25, 2019·5 min read

How our dreams prepare us to face our fears

Study identified the neural correlates of fear during dreaming and reports similar areas are activated when experiencing fear during wakeful states.

Featured Neuroscience

·November 22, 2019·3 min read

What leads to compulsive alcohol use?

A network linking the medial prefrontal cortex and brainstem plays a critical role in the development of compulsive drinking disorder and is a driver for its expression.

Featured Neuroscience

·November 7, 2019·4 min read

What your friends’ brains look like when they think of you

To accurately perceive another person, your neural representation of that person has to match the pattern in the persons' brain when they think about themselves.