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thalamus

Featured Neuroscience Visual Neuroscience

·May 17, 2024·5 min read

Brain’s Arousal Fine-Tunes Visual Signals

Arousal levels directly influence how the brain processes visual information. Researchers found that the firing patterns of neurons in the thalamus, a key relay station for visual signals, change in response to pupil dilation and constriction, indicators of arousal. This modulation of neural activity provides a mechanistic explanation for how our internal states shape our visual perception.

Featured Neuroscience

·May 1, 2024·4 min read

Key Consciousness Connections Uncovered

Using neuroimaging, researchers identified a brain network crucial to human consciousness. Using advanced multimodal MRI techniques, the team mapped connections among the brainstem, thalamus, and cortex, forming what they call the "default ascending arousal network," which is vital for sustaining wakefulness.

Featured Neuroscience

·October 6, 2023·6 min read

Thalamus Plays a Pivotal Role in Adult Brain Plasticity

Researchers spotlight the thalamus, typically regarded merely as a relay station, as a pivotal entity in adult brain plasticity. Contrasting prior beliefs focusing largely on the cortex, the thalamus demonstrates a significant role in adapting sensory and motor information, as illuminated through mouse models in vision studies.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·October 3, 2023·5 min read

Psilocybin Microdosing Promising for Mental Health Disorders

Researchers delve into the therapeutic potential of psilocybin microdosing, exploring its influence on stress resilience and compulsive behaviors in rats. While high-dose psilocybin therapy has been scrutinized for psychiatric treatment applications, this study focuses on low, repeated doses—commonly known as 'microdosing'—and its burgeoning popularity in self-medication narratives online.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·February 9, 2023·5 min read

Putting the Brake on Risky Behaviors

A newly discovered neural circuit in the thalamus prevented reward-seeking behaviors when activated in a preclinical model. When blocked, this circuit increases high-risk reward-seeking behaviors. The findings could lead to new therapies for addiction and other disorders associated with high-risk reward-seeking behaviors.

Featured Neuroscience

·February 2, 2023·7 min read

Sparse, Small, but Diverse Neural Connections Help Make Perception Reliable and Efficient

Thalamic inputs into superficial layers of the cerebral cortex are both rare and weak, yet surprisingly diverse in their distribution patterns. However, they are reliable and efficient representatives of information.

Featured Neuroscience Visual Neuroscience

·January 20, 2023·5 min read

Why Congenitally Blind People Show Activity in Visual-Processing Areas of the Brain

Study reveals structural changes of connectivity in the thalamus to other brain areas in those with congenital blindness, providing evidence of brain plasticity. The areas of the thalamus that connect with the occipital lobe in those with blindness are weaker and smaller, giving space to connections in the temporal cortex which are strengthened.

Featured Neuroscience Pain

·December 2, 2022·5 min read

How Touch Dampens the Brain’s Response to Painful Stimuli

A simple act such as rubbing your temples when you have a headache can help to alleviate pain. Researchers say this is because pain-responsive neurons in the brain quiet down when these neurons also receive touch input.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·November 10, 2022·5 min read

Mapping the Communications Hub of the Brain

A new brain map reveals how the thalamus connects with other areas of the brain.

This shows the location of the thalamus in the brain

Featured Neuroscience

·October 17, 2022·4 min read

Nicotine Dose in a Single Cigarette Blocks Estrogen Production in Women’s Brains

The dose of nicotine from a single cigarette blocks estrogen production in the brain, causing behavioral changes. Findings may shed new light on why quitting smoking may be more difficult for women than men.