Articles tagged with Behavioral Neuroscience
A new study by EPFL researchers finds that stress during early adolescence leads to increased body fat and reduced sociability in males, but not females. The researchers identified a biological link between stress-induced fat gain and impaired brain function, specifically the NAD+/Sirtuin-1 pathway.
Researchers from Tel Aviv University found that hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) relieves PTSD symptoms in treatment-resistant veterans, improving brain function and microstructure. The breakthrough study provides new hope for PTSD sufferers, offering an objective diagnostic tool and potential long-term improvements.
Researchers developed behavioral task for rats to press lever within 3.2 seconds, earning rewards based on accuracy. Rats chose correct feeder based on temporal error, showing 'error monitoring' ability.
Researchers from Washington State University found that the optimal time of day for different cognitive tasks does not differ based on task type. Participants who felt sleepy should consider postponing important tasks until a later time to avoid performance impairment.
A Caltech-led team of researchers discovered that a bacterial metabolite can travel to the brain and alter its function, leading to increased anxiety in mice. The study provides a molecular explanation for recent observations linking gut microbiome changes to complex emotional behaviors.
Chronic pain may lead to changed eating behavior and obesity due to altered brain responses to sugar and fat. Brain scans reveal a smaller nucleus accumbens in patients with chronic pain who experience disrupted satiety signals.
Researchers found that archerfish can recognize unfamiliar insects as animals based on six essential features. The fish use these features, including shape and texture, to distinguish between animals and plants, similar to human face recognition strategies.
Researchers identified Dh31, a signaling molecule released from the fly's gastrointestinal tract, which switches focus from eating to mating. The study provides mechanistic explanation for how Dh31 acts on brain to change motivational drive of critical behaviors.
Researchers found lower functional connectivity between brain areas involved in social and emotional processing in individuals at risk of developing alcohol use disorder. This impairment may affect their ability to interpret facial expressions and respond to their environment, increasing the likelihood of disordered drinking.
A new study published in Nature Communications found that amylin peptide plays a crucial role in regulating social contact-seeking behavior in female mice. The researchers discovered that isolation leads to a decrease in amylin levels, while social reunion increases them.
Researchers at Osnabrück University observe chimpanzees applying insects to their own and others' wounds, sparking interest in potential anti-inflammatory or antiseptic properties. The team aims to investigate the social dimension of this behavior and its possible transmission through social learning.
A study by the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience has identified a new neural mechanism of habit formation, showing that striatal dopamine signals are region-specific and temporally stable across action-sequence habit formation. This finding challenges traditional theories on dopamine signaling in habit development.
A recent study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that women score higher on compassion-related items and self-reflection, whereas men score higher on cognitive-related items and emotional regulation. Both genders demonstrated an association with increased mental well-being and resilience.
Researchers found that REM sleep has specific properties allowing rapid arousal in response to predatory stimuli. The medial subthalamic nucleus (mSTN) plays a key role in this process, producing a lowered arousal threshold during REM sleep for detecting predator threats.
Researchers identified over 1,000 genes with substantial activity differences between male and female mouse brains, revealing specific groups of brain cells orchestrating sex-typical behaviors. The study also pinpointed more than 600 differences in gene-activation levels between female mice in different phases of their estrous cycle.
A study by Professor Kazumichi Matsumiya from Tohoku University's Graduate School of Information Sciences has discovered separate body maps for different motor systems. This finding can contribute to the development of new diagnostic techniques and rehabilitation strategies for patients with motor dysfunctions.
A Dartmouth study found that people who respond faster to each other in conversations feel more connected. The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, used response time data to measure social connection between strangers and close friends.
A ketogenic diet has been shown to improve spatial memory and visual memory, lower brain inflammation indices, and cause less neuronal death in individuals with traumatic brain injuries. The diet may also slow down the rate of cellular aging, offering hope for those suffering from this condition.
Researchers suggest forgetting memories due to environmental feedback and predictability, rather than decay. This 'natural forgetting' can be beneficial for decision-making and behavior, and may even be reversible in certain circumstances.
UC researchers received a $1.2 million grant to examine the impact of stress hormone receptors on cell degeneration in Parkinson's disease. The study aims to develop a new model that better replicates the progression of the disease, which may lead to treatments targeting stress hormone blockers or next-generation therapeutics.
A recent study published in Communications Biology found that the presence of the Bmal1 gene in the striatum affects alcohol consumption in both male and female mice, but in a sex-dependent manner. Males without the protein consumed more alcohol, while female mice with it consumed less.
Researchers found increased myelination in areas associated with emotions and memory in individuals with anxiety and PTSD, correlating with specific symptoms. This study provides a possible explanation for individual variation in stress response and may lead to targeted treatments.
Research at University of California - San Diego found that infants with ASD have impaired neural responses to motherese speech, which is crucial for emotional bonding and learning. Typically developing children show stronger brain activation and interest in motherese.
Research reveals that HIV-positive individuals with cocaine addiction struggle to withhold behavioral responses due to distinct brain activity patterns. This finding highlights the need for targeted interventions to address dual diagnosis in recovery programs.
Researchers at Ruhr-University Bochum propose a new platform theory of consciousness, which links conscious states to complex cognitive operations. The model suggests that consciousness arises from the interaction of different neuronal networks and is essential for adaptive behavior in humans, animals, and artificial intelligence.
Researchers develop system to image millions of brain cell connections in real-time, revealing key locations for learning and memory encoding. The new tool allows scientists to study synapse activity on a massive scale, with potential applications in understanding diseases such as Alzheimer's and autism.
Researchers at Tel Aviv University successfully treated autism in animal models with medical cannabis oil, improving behavioral and biochemical parameters. The treatment showed significant improvement in compulsive and anxious behaviors, and a decrease in the concentration of the arousing neurotransmitter glutamate.
Research by Jesús Bas and colleagues found that smaller groups are perceived as leaders in decision-making tasks, but larger groups are seen as more powerful and controlling when it comes to resources. Children's perceptions of social status also vary with age and group size.
A new study from McGill University suggests that a combination of biological, psychological, and social factors can predict early onset psychiatric disorders with over 90% accuracy. The study identifies temperament, trauma, and dopamine as the key factors in this prediction.
Researchers found improvements in verbal learning and memory and preservation of hippocampal volume in participants with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis after 12 weeks of supervised treadmill walking exercise. A targeted pilot randomized controlled trial demonstrated the effectiveness of this intervention for managing cognitive ...
Researchers discovered the retrosplenial cortex as the site of value decision-making in the brain. Persistency allows value signals to be effectively represented across different brain areas, especially the RSC. Artificial intelligence networks mimicking mouse decisions showed remarkably similar results.
Researchers discovered a brain circuit that enables C. elegans worms to switch between foraging and feasting behaviors based on sensory information. The circuit involves a key neuron called AIA, which integrates food odor signals to influence the behavior.
The insular cortex processes both positive and negative emotions and receives information from the body, including heart rate and breathing. In mice, the brain uses bodily signals to regulate fear, keeping it within a healthy range.
A research team has identified a subset of cerebellar neurons that signal satiation after eating, leading to reduced food intake in mice. The findings suggest a novel target for therapies that could curb overeating and obesity.
Researchers identified brain cells called angular head velocity (AHV) cells that track head motion speed, which improves estimation of own head angular speed when visual cues are available. This study sheds light on the neural mechanisms underlying navigation and self-motion guidance in the brain.
Researchers at Tel Aviv University conducted a cross-adoption experiment with fruit bat pups to determine whether boldness is genetic or learned. The findings indicate that the pups behave like their adoptive mothers, not biological mothers, suggesting that boldness is an acquired trait passed on through mother's milk.
A new AI application called DeepMReye uses MRI signals to read eye movements and infer thoughts, memories, and goals. It can also diagnose brain diseases by analyzing characteristic eye movement patterns.
Researchers developed metrics to quantify information in animal responses to reward feedback, showing that animals exhibit undermatching behavior. The new metrics provide a way to predict this deviation from the matching law, offering insights into adaptive behavior and decision-making.
Researchers suppressed cortical excitability to resolve self-interest vs. prosocial motivations in favor of cooperation, particularly in dictator games. In generosity games, no effect was observed. The study suggests the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex plays a key role in resolving conflicts between self-interest and prosociality.
A new study on mice finds that cognitive training designed to focus on what's important while ignoring distractions can enhance the brain's information processing. The research suggests that this type of training can lead to improved learning and memory, particularly in novel tasks. By analyzing neural activity in the hippocampus durin...
Research suggests that inhaling carbon dioxide after a traumatic event makes fearful memories more resilient in mice. The study found that CO2 exposure strengthens fearful memories by activating ASIC1A protein in the brain. This discovery might lead to new therapeutic strategies for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in humans.
Researchers at Mount Sinai found that people used forward thinking when trying to influence others, regardless of controllability. This neural activity was linked to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, a decision-making center involved in strategic thinking.
A study by Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown found that fruit fly hearts accelerate when in danger and slow down during freezing, a behavior previously thought to be energy-saving. This unexpected result suggests an entirely new mechanism at play in flies' cardiac responses.
Researchers at the University of Leicester created novel body-maps of hallucinations, documenting feelings and sensations in the body during psychosis. These maps revealed recurrent concentrations of feelings like pain, heat, or tension in specific body areas.
A new study published in Scientific Reports found that lack of sleep affects gait control, with students who stayed awake all night performing poorly. However, those who compensated for lost sleep by catching up on weekends showed improved walking control.
A recent study used gene-targeting drugs to suppress areas of the brain and then imaged brain activity, revealing how this affects other complex operational networks. The research team found that silencing specific brain regions can cause stimulatory and inhibitory changes in brain activity, which can be identified using fMRI.
Researchers have identified a new pathway for opioid-induced reward in the brain, paving the way for creating safer opioids. By altering the opioid peptide receptor MOPR, pharmaceutical companies can potentially create drugs that bypass the brain's reward system.
Researchers used CRISPR-Cas9 technique to edit genes in zebrafish larvae, altering individual behavioral responses and group behavior. The study suggests two simple visuomotor reflexes explain the collective behavior of zebrafish.
Researchers found that protein lactylation occurs in brain neurons and is positively correlated with lactate levels. The study showed that neural excitation and social stress enhance lysine lactylation of histone H1 proteins, leading to increased anxiety-like behaviors.
Researchers from The Stuber Lab discovered that certain neurons in the brain light up in obese mice, preventing signals that indicate satiety. The study found that these neurons communicate with regions involved in depression and motivation, suggesting a link between eating disorders and addiction.
Researchers at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre have discovered a new brain circuit that enables mice to override their instincts based on previous experience. The ventral lateral geniculate nucleus (vLGN) inhibits threat reactions when animals feel safe, but activates them when danger is perceived.
Researchers used neuroscientific theories to develop a decision-making model that predicts pedestrian road-crossing decisions. The model shows that pedestrians add up sensory data before crossing, helping autonomous vehicles communicate more effectively with pedestrians.
Researchers discovered structural differences in brain regions responsible for decision-making and empathy in adolescents with conduct disorder compared to their unaffected siblings. These findings suggest that small changes in brain function may contribute to the development of antisocial behavior in some siblings.
Researchers found associations between driving convictions, accidents, and behaviors like junk food consumption and alcohol. Genetic variation in serotonin metabolism was also linked to risky driving.
A new report published in De Gruyter exposes the neural impact of marine parks and other impoverished environments on cetaceans. The authors conclude that these environments cause significant neurobiological harm, leading to abnormal behavior such as repetitive swimming patterns and social isolation.
A study published in Communications Biology reveals that chronic hyperglycemia in diabetes impairs working memory performance by altering the connection between key brain regions. Researchers found that areas critical for forming and retrieving memories were over-connected, leading to errors in remembering correct information.
Researchers found that methamphetamine, cocaine, and nicotine withdrawal share similar features in mouse brains, including reduced modularity and increased functional connectivity. This reorganization may contribute to the addictive nature of psychostimulants.
By reading electrical signals in a bird's brain, researchers can predict specific syllables and when they will be sung. This breakthrough technology has the potential to develop vocal prostheses for humans with speech disorders.
Research from Dartmouth College reveals that making and breaking eye contact during conversations can create a dynamic balance between shared attention and individual expression. Pupillary synchrony decreases after eye contact breaks, allowing for creativity and new thoughts, while also signaling shared understanding.
A new study published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience found that differences in cognitive control are not absolute, but rather a matter of degree. The research team, led by Todd Braver, used functional MRI to examine brain activity and behavior across four tasks in three conditions. Consistency was found in brain regions and b...