A brain network consisting of the thalamus, anterior and posterior cingulate cortex, and angular gyri was implicated in the loss, and return, of consciousness under both anesthetic and natural sleep. Read More
People make automatic and efficient decisions when learning to avoid others. When learning to avoid harming themselves, people make become more deliberative. The study also found people were more willing to repeat decisions that were previously harmful to themselves if they believed better results would occur in the future. Read More
Working memory isn't confined to one area of the brain. It requires synchronous activity of at least two brain areas. Read More
Results from a new study implicate the ventromedial thalamus in cost-benefit decision making. Read More
Researchers have identified a key neural circuit that plays a role in dissociation, a phenomenon in which people can feel disconnected from their bodies and reality. Read More
Social isolation experienced during childhood has an impact on adult brain function and behavior. Following two weeks of social isolation immediately following weaning in male mice, researchers noticed a failure in activation of medial prefrontal cortex neurons projecting to the posterior paraventricular thalamus during social exposure in adulthood. Findings suggest medial prefrontal cortex neurons required for sociability are profoundly affected by social isolation at a young age. Read More
Mapping the thalamic reticular nucleus, researchers have identified two distinct subnetworks of neurons with different functions. Findings offer insight into more specific targets for therapeutics to alleviate some sensory, sleep, and attention symptoms associated with ASD and other disorders characterized by sensory hypersensitivity. Read More
Auditory hallucinations, a common feature of psychosis and schizophrenia, may be the result of increased connectivity between sensory and language processing areas in the brain. Read More
NMDA receptor hypofunction is involved in the reduction of sleep spindles and delta oscillations, which appear in the brain during deep natural sleep. Findings confirm the role NMDA receptors play in sleep disorders that accompany psychotic states. Read More
Age, sex, and gender influence the organization of the brain's opioid system. Findings shed light on why there are significant differences between the opioid system on an individual level, and why some are more prone to developing opioid-linked pathologies than others. Read More
A new study reports hyper-connectivity between substructures of the thalamus, and the cerebral cortex may be responsible for auditory hallucinations associated with schizophrenia. Read More
Study provides insight into the neural mechanisms of how prey animals use the sounds or actions of others to infer danger and respond defensively. Read More
