Latest Prefrontal cortex Stories
Study highlights the importance of cognitive skills in exercising control over addictive drugsA study, completed by researchers from Trinity College and the Research Institute for a Tobacco Free Society, Dublin, Ireland, compares former smokers to current smokers, and obtains insight into how to quit smoking might be discovered by studying the brains of those who have successfully managed to do so.Functional MRI images were obtained while current smokers, former smokers and never smokers...
With certain variations people will stick longer with instructions that contradict experienceResearchers at Brown University have found that specific genetic variations can predict how persistently people will believe advice they are given, even when it is contradicted by experience.The story they tell in a paper in the April 20 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience is one of the byplay between two brain regions that have different takes on how incoming information should influence thinking....
Drugs like marijuana act on naturally occurring receptors in the brain called cannabinoid receptors. However, the mechanisms by which these drugs produce their sensory and mood altering effects within the brain are largely unknown. Research led by Steven Laviolette at The University of Western Ontario has now identified a critical brain pathway responsible for the effects of cannabinoid drugs on how the brain processes emotional information. The findings, published in The Journal of...
By Yasmin Anwar, University of California, BerkeleyA sleepless night can make us cranky and moody. But a lesser known side effect of sleep deprivation is short-term euphoria, which can potentially lead to poor judgment and addictive behavior, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley.Researchers at UC Berkeley and Harvard Medical School studied the brains of healthy young adults and found that their pleasure circuitry got a big boost after a missed night's sleep....
New study reveals that 'categorical' information is processed by the right hemisphereConsider the simple situation in which you are walking around the kitchen and decide to pick up your own cup of tea, which is identical to others lying on the table. Your brain chooses the correct cup of tea by using different types of information that you have stored about the position of the cup in relation to the kitchen table. The information can be represented in qualitative terms (left, right, above,...
How well our brain functions is largely based on our family's genetic makeup, according to a University of Melbourne led study.The study published in the international publication The Journal of Neuroscience provides the first evidence of a genetic effect on how "˜cost-efficient' our brain network wiring is, shedding light on some of the brain's make up.Lead author Dr Alex Fornito from the Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre at the University of Melbourne said the findings have important...
Less activity found in prefrontal cortex, the 'executive center' of brainBy Mark Wheeler, UCLATobacco smoking is the leading preventable cause of death and disease in the U.S., with more than 400,000 deaths each year attributable to smoking or its consequences. And yet teens still smoke. Indeed, smoking usually begins in the teen years, and approximately 80 percent of adult smokers became hooked by the time they were 18. Meanwhile, teens who don't take up smoking usually never do.While...
Special issue of Neuron examines the new neuroscience of substance abuseAddiction is a brain disease that destroys lives, devastates families and tears at the very fabric of society. Effective prevention and treatment of addiction requires a clear understanding of the complex brain mechanisms that underlie addictive behaviors, and research has provided a fascinating view of how substance abuse hijacks neuronal circuits involved in reward and motivation and causes profound and persistent...
FMRI at the University of Oregon provides a window to see differences in brain responsesMothers who are depressed respond differently to their crying babies than do non-depressed moms. In fact, their reaction, according to brain scans at the University of Oregon, is much more muted than the robust brain activity in non-depressed moms.An infant crying is normal, but how mothers respond can affect a child's development, says Jennifer C. Ablow, professor of psychology. For years, Ablow has...
Researchers find 2 neural pathways that play role in developing phobiasWhy do some people fret over the most trivial matters while others remain calm in the face of calamity? Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have identified two different chinks in our brain circuitry that explain why some of us are more prone to anxiety.Their findings, published today (Thursday, Feb. 10) in the journal Neuron may pave the way for more targeted treatment of chronic fear and anxiety...
