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prefrontal cortex

·October 30, 2022·5 min read

Teenage Brains: What Is Happening and Why It Leads to More Risky Behaviors

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.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·October 26, 2022·5 min read

What’s in a Name? Actors Suppress Their Sense of Self When Playing New Character

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.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·October 8, 2022·4 min read

Human Cocaine and Heroin Addiction Is Found Tied to Impairments in Specific Brain Circuit Initially Implicated in Animals

Greater impairment of the prefrontal cortex-habenula pathway was correlated with earlier age of first drug use.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·October 5, 2022·2 min read

Petting Dogs Engages the Social Brain, According to Neuroimaging

Interacting with dogs leads to greater activation in the prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain associated with emotional and social processing.

Featured Neuroscience

·September 28, 2022·4 min read

Omega-3 Fatty Acids, and in Particular DHA, Are Associated With Increased Attention Scores in Adolescents

DHA consumption was associated with improved capacity for selective and sustained attention in adolescents, while ALA lowered impulsive behaviors.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience Psychology

·September 22, 2022·4 min read

A New Understanding of the Neurobiology of Impulsivity

A new genetically based scoring model can accurately detect children most at risk of developing impulsive behaviors.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·September 21, 2022·4 min read

How Fear Memories Get Stuck in Some Brains

Down-regulation of the PRDM2 protein increases the consolidation of fear-related memories in the brain.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·September 6, 2022·6 min read

How the Brain Focuses on What’s in Mind

Rhythmic bursts of activity in the prefrontal cortex reduce variability as an animal focuses on a task.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·August 25, 2022·3 min read

What Makes the Human Brain Different?

Researchers have identified human-specific cell types in the prefrontal cortex. These unique cells may explain why humans are more susceptible to neuropsychiatric diseases than other primate species.

Featured Neuroscience

·August 11, 2022·4 min read

Why Thinking Hard Makes You Tired

Extended intense cognitive work causes potentially toxic byproducts to build up in the prefrontal cortex. This alters control over decision-making, causing a shift toward low-cost actions that require less effort as cognitive fatigue sets in.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·July 31, 2022·5 min read

Cells That Control Hunger Affect Brain Structure and Function

AgRP neurons in the hypothalamus play a critical role in shaping the structure and function of the prefrontal cortex in mice. The findings shed light on how the prefrontal cortex is altered in disorders such as schizophrenia.