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neuroimaging

·January 23, 2020·3 min read

Hot flashes impair memory performance

Vasomotor symptoms, including hot flashes in postmenopausal women, may contribute to memory performance problems. Neuroimaging reveals hot flashes caused alterations in brain function during memory encoding and retrieval tasks, specifically within the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex.

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·January 23, 2020·3 min read

New insight into brain connectivity

Researchers have developed a new framework that sheds new light on changes in the brain's activity and connections.

This shows a drawing of a brain made up of cog wheels

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·January 23, 2020·3 min read

How the brain processes rewards

Different types of reward have unique effects on the basal ganglia nuclei. Food rewards influence the left hemisphere of the brain, while erotic rewards engage the right lateral globus and left caudate. Financial rewards engage the basal ganglia bilaterally.

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·January 22, 2020·3 min read

Researcher discovers previously rejected function in the brain’s blood vessels

Despite previous findings, researchers have found precapillary sphincters in the brain. The study reports the precapillary sphincters may play a major role in disturbances of the brain's blood supply and blood pressure.

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·January 21, 2020·3 min read

Brain activity patterns linked with improved learning and memory in multiple sclerosis

Using a modified story memory technique, people with multiple sclerosis showed improvements in learning and memory. Additionally, fMRI neuroimaging revealed changes in brain activity related to working memory and word encoding.

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·January 18, 2020·4 min read

What people who don’t like music might tell us about social interaction

Musical anhedonia, a neurological condition where people don't enjoy music, affects 5% of the population. Researchers are exploring if this same condition could also be what impairs social bonding for some people on the autism spectrum.

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·January 18, 2020·2 min read

Music helps researchers find link between prediction and pleasure

Exposing subjects to music composed in an unfamiliar scale, researchers test whether reward can be derived solely from newly formed predictions.

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·January 17, 2020·2 min read

Violence and adversity in early life can alter the brain

Exposure to violence and childhood adversity has a negative effect on the developing brain. Neuroimaging reveals adolescents who experienced adversity and violence as children had reduced connectivity between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex. However, social support may act as a buffer and reduce the negative effects of early life stress.

This shows the mPFC and striatum highligted on a brain scan

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·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.

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·January 16, 2020·3 min read

Brain imaging may improve diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders

Neuroimaging may become a key tool in the diagnosis of mental health disorders, including anxiety and depression.

This shows a pink brain on top of a pile of white brains

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·January 16, 2020·4 min read

Are bigger brains better?

Greater hippocampal volume is not always a reliable predictor of learning and memory ability in older adults. Faster learning was only found in older adults who had both greater hippocampal volume and more uniform white matter connections to other parts of the brain.

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·January 15, 2020·5 min read

Surprising effects of oxytocin on cocaine addiction

In men with a history of childhood trauma, oxytocin reduced the activity within the amygdala and cravings for cocaine. Women who were addicted to cocaine and had experienced childhood trauma showed an increase in amygdala activity following exposure to oxytocin.