Researchers say Matcha, a traditional Japanese tea, can help boost mood and mental performance. Match tea powder activates dopaminergic neural networks and improves depressive symptoms in mice that previously experienced stress as a result of social isolation.
Changes in brain activity in the anterior cingulate cortex could be the best predictor of depression severity.
If neural assemblies between the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex fail to sync together at the correct time, memories are lost.
Shrunken gray matter volume in brain areas associated with social cognition and a compromised ability to trust others is linked to depression vulnerability and could be used as a biomarker for the onset of depressive symptoms, a new study reports.
In babies born preterm, the cerebral cortex, a brain area associated with learning and cognition is often underdeveloped. In preterm babies fed larger quantities of breastmilk, the cerebral cortex resembled those of babies born full term. Researchers say breastfeeding could help to reduce learning and behavioral deficits associated with preterm birth.
Study reveals functional connectivity abnormalities in brain areas associated with reward processing, habit formation, and decision-making in those with substance use disorders and addiction.
In people with PTSD, during REM sleep norepinephrine and serotonin levels remain high, reducing the brain's ability to inhibit fear-expression neurons through neural rhythms sent between the prefrontal cortex and amygdala. Those with PTSD require higher frequency rhythms to extinguish fear memories. Researchers say unlocking the higher frequencies via therapies could help to restore quality sleep in those with PTSD.
Postmortem brains of those with schizophrenia have fewer genes associated with 12-hour activity cycles in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Mitochondrial-related genes in the dlPFC did maintain a 12-hour rhythm, but their activity did not peak at normal times.
Remote fear memories, or memories of trauma formed in the distant past, are stored in the connections between neurons in the prefrontal cortex.
Study reveals how motor memory is consolidated during sleep.
Hormonal contraception disrupts signal transmission between cells in the prefrontal cortex of adolescents. Hormonal birth control also elevates levels of stress hormones in the brain.
Decision-making requires two different brain areas that mature at different times during the teenage years. This may help parents understand why their teens are more prone to making risky decisions.