Using characters from "Game of Thrones", researchers investigated what happens in the brain when people immerse themselves in fiction. The study found the more people became immersed in a story, the more they "became" the fictional character while reading. This was reflected in activity changes in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain associated with thinking about one's self. Read More
The ratio of GABA and glutamate affect long and short-term strategic decision-making in a different manner. Read More
Higher pain intensity was linked to reductions in working memory ability and increased activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Read More
Neuroimaging and computational neuroscience studies reveal different ways and brain areas implicated in decision making. Read More
Synchronized activity between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and temporoparietal junction improves learning and decision-making when people try to avoid harming others. Read More
Neuroimaging study reveals social learning is represented in the anterior cingulate cortex, while direct learning is represented in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. The two areas both interact with the striatum, which helps compute both reward prediction error and social prediction error. Read More
Chronic stress can affect a person's health and mental well being. Due to the COVID-19 virus, chronic stress is on the rise worldwide. Researchers examine the general and psychological health implications of chronic stress and suggest some methods we can adopt to keep our stress levels in check. Read More
Scenes of justified and unjustified violence in movies activate different areas of the adolescent brain. Unjustified violence activates the lateral orbital frontal cortex, while scenes where violence appears justified, activates the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Read More
Dysfunction in a brain pathway that usually keeps compulsive drinking in check may play a critical role in alcohol use disorder. Read More
Neuroimaging reveals 'successful' psychopaths (those who can control their antisocial tendencies) have greater levels of gray matter density between the left and right ventromedial prefrontal cortex. This area of the brain is implicated in self-regulatory processes, including reactive emotions. Read More
The medial prefrontal cortex persistently encodes value based decision variables. Read More
Neuroimaging reveals brain area activity in the amygdala and prefrontal cortex helps people determine the likability of robots and suitability for social partnership. Read More