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vmPFC

·May 27, 2024·5 min read

Brain Region Governing Helping Behavior Identified

A new study found that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is crucial for prosocial behaviors. Researchers studied patients with brain damage and found that damage to the vmPFC reduced willingness to help others. Understanding this brain region's role could improve treatments for social interaction disorders and motivate global problem-solving efforts.

Featured Neuroscience

·November 27, 2023·5 min read

Brain’s Role in Social Cues

Researchers uncovered a crucial role of the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) in processing social cues, expanding our understanding of this brain region beyond working memory and multisensory integration. Using a novel approach, the study found that while individual neurons in the VLPFC of macaques showed complex responses to social stimuli, their collective activity could be decoded by a machine learning model to identify expressions and identities in videos.

Featured Neuroscience

·July 2, 2022·5 min read

Decision-Making: A New Distribution of Tasks in Our Prefrontal Cortex?

Study reveals how specific tasks are distributed to different areas within the prefrontal cortex to help with decision-making processes.

This shows a researcher looking at a brain scan on a computer monitor

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·May 23, 2022·5 min read

How Do You Know Not to Laugh at a Funeral? This Region of the Brain Is Key

Researchers reveal the role the prefrontal cortex plays in emotional processing and emotional suppression.

This shows a brain scan with the ventromedial prefrontal cortex highlighted

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·November 3, 2021·5 min read

Our Brains May Think Two Steps Ahead When Trying to Sway Others

Study reveals how the brain utilizes forward-thinking when we try to influence others or gain social control.

Featured Neuroscience

·September 26, 2021·4 min read

Math Equation of Mood Can Predict Your Preferences Better Than You Can

A new mathematical equation predicts which individuals will have more happiness and increased brain activity for intrinsic rather than extrinsic rewards. The approach can be used to predict personal preferences based on mood and without asking the individual.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·May 31, 2021·3 min read

Brain Activity Reveals When White Lies Are Selfish

White lies that are selfish in nature elicit increased activity in both the ventral and rostral medial prefrontal cortex.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·March 15, 2021·5 min read

What Happens in Your Brain When You ‘Lose Yourself’ in Fiction

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.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience Pain Psychology

·February 3, 2021·5 min read

How Does Pain Experienced in Everyday Life Impact Memory?

Higher pain intensity was linked to reductions in working memory ability and increased activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·September 5, 2020·5 min read

New Discoveries on Decision-Making Process

Neuroimaging and computational neuroscience studies reveal different ways and brain areas implicated in decision making.

Featured Neuroscience

·August 24, 2020·3 min read

People Can Make Better Choices When It Benefits Others

Synchronized activity between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and temporoparietal junction improves learning and decision-making when people try to avoid harming others.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·December 31, 2019·7 min read

Justified and unjustified movie violence evokes different brain responses

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.