Your brain on sugar: What the science actually says
From reducing memory capability to increasing the risk of diabetes and obesity, researchers investigate how sugar affects the brain and body.... Read More...
prefrontal cortex
Circuit responsible for building memories during sleep identified
The nucleus reuniens is responsible for coordinating synchronous slow waves between the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus during sleep. The findings suggest the nucleus reuniens plays a critical role in sleep-dependant memory consolidation.... Read More...
Drug combination reverses hypersensitivity to noise
Summary: Treating mouse models of autism with modafinil and EBIO reduced hypersensitivity to noise.Source: MITPeople with autism often experience hypers... Read More...
Brain imaging reveals neural correlates of human social behavior
Brain imaging studies shed new light on social behaviors such as empathy and team flow. The findings provide new understanding of the neural basis of social behaviors and conditions involving social dysfunction.... Read More...
Scientists reverse core symptom of schizophrenia in adult mice
Neuronal branches in SETD1A deficient mice are shorter and stunted. Switching off another gene, LSD1, nullifies the harmful effects of SETD1A on neuron and axon growth. After inhibiting LSD1, SETD1A deficient mice showed improved memory and axon growth. Inhibiting LSD1 not only acted on memory deficits linked to schizophrenia but also acted on the underlying molecular mechanisms associated with axonal growth. ... Read More...
Study locates brain areas for understanding metaphors in healthy and schizophrenic people
Patients with schizophrenia show increased brain activity in central areas of the brain, but lower activity in the temporal sulcus when hearing metaphors. ... Read More...
Parenting stress may affect mother’s and child’s ability to tune in to each other
Mothers who reported higher levels of parental stress had less synchrony in brain activity with their young children than moms who were more stress-free. The findings shed new light on how parental stress can impact the mother-child relationship on a day-to-day basis.... Read More...
Recursive language and modern imagination were acquired simultaneously 70,000 years ago
A mathematical model suggests a genetic mutation which extended the critical period by slowing prefrontal cortex development in two or more children 70,000 years ago was one factor for the emergence of recursive language and modern imagination. ... Read More...
Study Advances Understanding of How Brains Remember Decisions
The medial prefrontal cortex persistently encodes value based decision variables.... Read More...
Brain-computer interfacing technology uses music to make people happy
A new brain-machine interface technology can enhance emotional interaction with music. ... Read More...
How can you tell if another person, animal or thing is conscious? Try these 3 tests
From artificial intelligence to animals and people in comas, researchers evaluate different methods to test the presence of consciousness.... Read More...
How we tune out distractions
A pathway linking the basal ganglia to the thalamus enhances sensory discrimination and is used to suppress 'background noise'. The pathway, which is controlled by the prefrontal cortex, selectively suppresses sensory input as it flows to the thalamus.... Read More...