DHA consumption was associated with improved capacity for selective and sustained attention in adolescents, while ALA lowered impulsive behaviors.
Interacting with dogs leads to greater activation in the prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain associated with emotional and social processing.
Greater impairment of the prefrontal cortex-habenula pathway was correlated with earlier age of first drug use.
When actors hear their own names during a performance, their response is suppressed by activity in the left anterior prefrontal cortex, a brain area associated with self-awareness.
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.
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.
Study reveals how motor memory is consolidated during sleep.
Remote fear memories, or memories of trauma formed in the distant past, are stored in the connections between neurons in the prefrontal cortex.
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.
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.
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 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.
