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prefrontal cortex

This shows an ancient statue of a lion man

Featured Genetics Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·August 6, 2019·7 min read

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.

Featured Neuroscience

·July 23, 2019·5 min read

Study Advances Understanding of How Brains Remember Decisions

The medial prefrontal cortex persistently encodes value based decision variables.

Auditory Neuroscience Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·July 12, 2019·5 min read

Brain-computer interfacing technology uses music to make people happy

A new brain-machine interface technology can enhance emotional interaction with music.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·July 8, 2019·6 min read

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.

This shows a cartoon of a woman trying to read with lots of distractions in the background

Featured Neuroscience

·June 12, 2019·5 min read

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.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·May 27, 2019·4 min read

Altered Brain Activity in Antisocial Teenagers

Neuroimaging reveals lower activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and angular gyrus in teenage girls with conduct disorder. Findings suggest that a reduction in prefrontal brain regions and functional connectivity during effortful emotional regulations contribute to behaviors associated with antisocial behavior in teenage girls.

The prefrontal cortex in the brain is highlighted here

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·May 26, 2019·5 min read

Growing up high: Neurobiological consequences of adolescent cannabis use

Researchers evaluate the psychological and neurobiological impact of teen cannabis use. The findings, to be presented at the 13th Annual Canadian Neuroscience Meeting, will cover how cannabis contributes to cognitive impairments, psychosis and deficits in decision making in adolescents.

This shows the prefrontal cortex in the brain

Featured Neurology Neuroscience Pain Psychology

·May 21, 2019·2 min read

Multiple brain regions moderate and link depressive mood and pain

People with higher levels of depressive moods exhibited heightened sensitivity to pain, and had greater activation in the prefrontal cortex, insula and somatosensory cortex.

Autism Featured Genetics Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·May 16, 2019·6 min read

Brain changes in autism traced to specific cell types

Studying brain tissue samples from people with ASD revealed a common set of alterations in genes associated with synaptic communication between neurons. The changes were identified mainly in neurons in the uppermost layers of the neocortex.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience Visual Neuroscience

·May 7, 2019·6 min read

Why visual stimulation may work in fight against Alzheimer’s: Mouse study

Inducing gamma oscillations with visual stimulation via a process known as gamma entrainment using sensory stimuli, or GENUS, was shown to reduce amyloid plaques and phosphorylated tau in mouse models of dementia. Providing GENUS daily during the early stages of neurodegeneration helps preserve neural and synaptic density across multiple brain areas and improves cognitive performance for learning and spatial memory tasks.

These are fmri scans of the female mice brains lacking shank3

Autism Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·May 7, 2019·2 min read

Autism gene linked to brain and behavior deficits in mice

A deficiency of the SHANK3 gene, a gene associated with ASD, results in structural and functional deficits in the prefrontal cortex. The functional and structural alterations in the PFC were linked to an impairment in social interaction in male mice.

this is a woman holding her head while other hands are covering her face

Featured Genetics Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·May 3, 2019·5 min read

Hotspot in the genome may drive psychosis in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

A cluster of epigenetic marks in an enhancer at IGF2 could enhance dopamine synthesis associated with psychosis in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The findings may help in devising more effective treatments and screening strategies for both disorders.