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PAG

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Featured Neurology Neuroscience Pain

·April 13, 2025·6 min read

Why You Sometimes Don’t Feel Pain Until It’s Too Late

New research highlights how the brain’s own chemistry can suppress pain, explaining why severely injured individuals, like WWII soldiers, sometimes feel little discomfort. The key lies in a brain region called the periaqueductal grey (PAG), which dampens pain signals before they reach conscious awareness.

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Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·June 26, 2024·5 min read

Brain Control of Escape Behavior May Unlock Anxiety Treatments

Researchers discovered how the brain controls sensitivity to threats, influencing escape behavior in mice. The study found that inhibitory neurons in the periaqueductal gray (PAG) regulate both the initiation and termination of escape.

This shows a brain made of food.

Featured Neuroscience

·March 19, 2024·5 min read

Brain’s Food-Seeking Circuit Overrides Hunger Signals

Researchers identified a brain circuit in mice that drives them to seek food even when not hungry, focusing on a specific group of cells in the brainstem's periaqueductal gray (PAG) area. This discovery highlights how stimulating these cells causes mice to prefer high-calorie foods and engage in food-seeking behaviors, regardless of hunger.

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Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·March 8, 2022·3 min read

Discovery of Novel Brain Fear Mechanisms Offers Target for Anxiety-Reducing Drugs

Researchers have identified a new target in the brain that underpins the freezing response associated with anxiety and fear. The findings could provide a new drug target for anxiety-related disorders.

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Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·August 31, 2021·4 min read

Mapping the Brain Circuitry of Spirituality

Researchers find a region of the brain stem called the periaqueductal gray may mediate religiosity and spirituality in humans.

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Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·July 1, 2021·5 min read

Brain Circuit for Spirituality Identified

A new study has identified a specific brain circuit centered in the periaqueductal gray that is linked to spiritual acceptance and religiosity.

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Featured Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·May 25, 2017·4 min read

How Fear Can Develop Out of Others’ Traumas

The endogenous opioid system may be responsible for learned fear based on the trauma of others, researchers report.

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Featured Psychology

·April 24, 2017·5 min read

Placebo Effect Could Mend a Broken Heart Too

A new neuroimaging study finds the placebo effect can help to lessen the impact of the emotional pain from romantic rejection.

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Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·January 12, 2017·4 min read

Switching on the Predatory Kill Instinct in Mice

Using optogenetics to stimulate neurons in the central amygdala, researchers turn on predatory hunting motivation in mice.

Image shows neurons in the prefrontal cortex.

Featured Neuroscience

·January 9, 2017·5 min read

Neural Connection Keeps Instincts in Check

Researchers have traced the neural connections that help us to curb our impulses.

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Featured Neuroscience

·November 14, 2016·4 min read

The Power of Expectation Can Restrain Hyper-Emotional Memories in the Brain

Researchers have identified a brain circuit that provides emotional memory tuning in rats.

The image shows neurons in the amgydala and brain stem.

Featured Neuroscience

·February 12, 2014·3 min read

Scientists Discover a New Pathway for Fear Deep Within the Brain

Researchers announce the discovery of a new neural circuit which connects the amygdala to the PAG.

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