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nucleus accumbens

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·July 13, 2022·5 min read

Why Women May Not Respond to Depression Treatments the Same as Men

Study reveals how reduced function of the rgs2 protein in the nucleus accumbens contributes to symptoms associated with depression. The findings may assist with the development of new therapeutics to help treat depression in individuals.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·June 16, 2022·5 min read

Us Versus Them: Harming the ‘Outgroup’ Is Linked to Elevated Activity in the Brain’s Reward Circuitry

Aggression toward members in an "outgroup" was associated with increased activity in areas of the brain associated with reward. Activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex impacted the level of aggression a person demonstrated against an outsider.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·June 8, 2022·6 min read

Three Distinct Brain Circuits in the Thalamus Contribute to Parkinson’s Symptoms

Neurons in the parafascicular thalamus project to three different parts of the basal ganglia. Targeting these circuits could be a new target for treating motor dysfunction and depression associated with Parkinson's disease.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·April 25, 2022·3 min read

The Connection Between Loss of Motivation and Alzheimer’s Disease Progression

Targeting synaptic calcium permeable receptors in the nucleus accumbens and blocking them could delay or prevent the onset of Alzheimer's associated neuropsychiatric symptoms, and ultimately cognitive decline.

Featured Neuroscience

·April 4, 2022·4 min read

Neuronal Mechanisms That Control Food Cravings During Pregnancy Identified

A new study sheds light on the neurobiology of cravings for certain foods women experience while pregnant. According to researchers, during pregnancy, the brain undergoes alterations to functional connections in the reward systems, as well as taste and sensorimotor centers. Pregnant females become more sensitive to sweet foods and develop binge eating behaviors toward high-calorie foods. Pregnancy induces a full reorganization of the mesolimbic neural circuits via D2R dopaminergic neurons in the nucleus accumbens.

This shows a graph and the location of the amygdala in the brain

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·February 14, 2022·3 min read

Loneliness Has a Different Neural Basis Than Social Anxiety

People with social anxiety have increased amygdala activity during social decision making, and reduced activity in the nucleus accumbens during social feedback. Those who are lonely did not experience the same alterations as those with social anxiety, suggesting loneliness is a unique condition.

This shows a walnut that looks like a brain

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Pain

·February 11, 2022·4 min read

New Clues in the Brain Linking Pain and Food

Brain circuitry responsible for motivation and pleasure is activated when a person experiences pain. The findings reveal a link as to why some people may overeat when they experience chronic pain.

This shows medium spiny neurons in the NCA

Autism Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·January 31, 2022·4 min read

Gene-Environment Interactions That Drives Autism

Inducing massive inflammation resulted in an overexpression of Trpv4. The overexpression led to neural hyperexcitability that resulted in social avoidance behaviors associated with ASD in mouse models.

Featured Neuroscience

·November 2, 2021·3 min read

The Mechanisms of Addiction

A new study aims to shed light on the roles sub-regions of the nucleus accumbens play in addiction.

Featured Neuroscience

·September 2, 2021·4 min read

Beyond Dopamine: New Reward Circuitry Discovered

Researchers have identified a new reward system in the brain. The study found long-range GABA neurons from the ventral tegmental area to the ventral nucleus accumbens shell are engaged in reward and reinforcement behaviors. This GABAergic projection inhibits cholinergic interneurons.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·August 15, 2021·4 min read

Brain Gene Expression Patterns Altered by Chronic Opioid Use

Opioid use disorder affects genes associated with proinflammatory immune molecule encoding and genes associated with remodeling the extracellular matrix, suggesting the connection between neurons may be altered as a result of opioid use. Additionally, those with OUD have higher levels of microglia in the brain.