A new study reports mice lacking the Maged1 gene are unable to acquire an addiction to cocaine.
The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) appears to play a significant role in our ability to make decisions. A network connecting the OFC and nucleus accumbens translates negative outcomes into values, while the OFC-amygdala circuit helps stabilize action values.
A new study uses MRI technology to map the neuroanatomical differences and similarities in two different kinds of extroverts.
Researchers implicate the hippocampus and nucleus accumbens in decisions that call for delayed gratification.
Findings suggest drug treatments for addiction and depression simultaneously may stimulate and reward and aversion responses.
Findings could lead to improved treatment options and better understanding of post concussion depression and anxiety.
A circuit-specific gender difference in ventral hippocamps to nucleus accumbens (vHPC-NAc) neurons is dependent on testosterone and causes more susceptibility to stress in females.
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.
A positive correlation has been identified between prosocial and rebellious behaviors in teens. The more risk taking behaviors a teen exhibited, the more likely they were to act prosocially. The findings suggest the same developmental processes are at work for both types of behaviors. Also noted was faster brain development in the medial prefrontal cortex predicted a decrease in rebellious behavior.
A neuroimaging study reports connections between certain brain regions are amplified in teens who are more prone to taking risks.
Mice that spent time running on wheels developed twice the normal number of new neurons and showed an increased ability to distinguish new objects from familiar objects, a new study reports.
Researchers have identified specific potassium channel genes that are altered by alcohol addiction.
