Menu

Blog

Archive for the ‘neuroscience’ category: Page 115

Feb 26, 2024

What’s in a Name? Actors Suppress Their Sense of Self When Playing New Character

Posted by in category: neuroscience

Summary: When actors hear their own names during a performance, their response is suppressed by activity in the left anterior prefrontal cortex, a brain area associated with self-awareness.

Source: UCL

Actors may suppress their core sense of self when acting, as they immerse themselves in a new role, finds a new study by UCL researchers.

Feb 26, 2024

How the Brain Focuses on What’s in Mind

Posted by in category: neuroscience

Summary: Rhythmic bursts of activity in the prefrontal cortex reduce variability as an animal focuses on a task.

Source: picower institute for learning and memory.

Working memory, that handy ability to consciously hold and manipulate new information in mind, takes work. In particular, participating neurons in the prefrontal cortex have to work together in synchrony to focus our thoughts, whether we’re remembering a set of directions or tonight’s menu specials.

Feb 26, 2024

Why Thinking Hard Makes You Tired

Posted by in category: neuroscience

Summary: Extended intense cognitive work causes potentially toxic byproducts to build up in the prefrontal cortex. This alters control over decision-making, causing a shift toward low-cost actions that require less effort as cognitive fatigue sets in.

Source: Cell Press.

It’s no surprise that hard physical labor wears you out, but what about hard mental labor? Sitting around thinking hard for hours makes one feel worn out, too.

Feb 26, 2024

Cells That Control Hunger Affect Brain Structure and Function

Posted by in category: neuroscience

Summary: AgRP neurons in the hypothalamus play a critical role in shaping the structure and function of the prefrontal cortex in mice. The findings shed light on how the prefrontal cortex is altered in disorders such as schizophrenia.

Source: Yale.

The prefrontal cortex region of the human brain is responsible for a range of complex functions from decision-making to certain types of memory.

Feb 26, 2024

Scientists Find Link Between ADHD, Depression and Hypersexuality

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience, sex

Although the interplay between sex and mental health is well-studied, a new study suggests there may be a complex correlation between seemingly disparate disorders.

In a new paper published in the Journal of Affective Disorders Reports, a group of Italian psychology researchers say they’ve found a correlation between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depressive symptoms, hypomania (the clinical term for “mania” or high energy) and hypersexuality, or an intense preoccupation with sexual thoughts and acts — and that people who experience these sets of symptoms may use sex as a sort of “self-medication.”

Study coauthors Giacomo Ciocca, a sexual psychology assistant professor at Rome’s Sapienza University, and Davide Doroldi, a clinical psychologist, told PsyPost that they were inspired to look into the possible link after observing higher rates of hypersexuality among people with ADHD.

Feb 26, 2024

Drug Repairs Systems that Remove Alzheimer’s-Causing Waste From the Brain, Study Shows

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

A team of Rutgers undergraduates has shown that an experimental drug known as Yoda1 may help drain cranial waste plus neurotoxins that cause Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.


Rutgers study led by undergrads and gap-year students breaks ground in the field of neuroscience and suggests experimental medication could treat dementia.

Feb 25, 2024

René Descartes’ Legacy: The Persistence of Mind-Body Dualism

Posted by in category: neuroscience

René Descartes’ mind-body dualism—the view that the mind and body are different kinds of things—haunts cognitive science to this day.

Feb 25, 2024

Gut fungi have effects beyond the gut through the gut-brain axis: here’s what scientists learnt

Posted by in category: neuroscience

[NEW POST] Most research on the role of gut microbiota in the gut-brain axis has focused on bacteria, while fungi living inside the gut have been overlooked. What do we know about the role of gut fungi in the communication between the gut and the brain?

Feb 25, 2024

Brain surgery via sound waves to stimulate parts of brain

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

Because brains are intricate and surgery is risky, scientists are seeking non-invasive methods like LILFUS – which use sound waves for brain issues.

Our brain is a sensitive organ.

Feb 25, 2024

Research team develops nanoscale device for brain chemistry analysis

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, nanotechnology, neuroscience

Longstanding challenges in biomedical research such as monitoring brain chemistry and tracking the spread of drugs through the body require much smaller and more precise sensors. A new nanoscale sensor that can monitor areas 1,000 times smaller than current technology and can track subtle changes in the chemical content of biological tissue with sub-second resolution, greatly outperforming standard technologies.

The device, developed by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, is silicon-based and takes advantage of techniques developed for microelectronics manufacturing. The small device size enables it to collect chemical content with close to 100% efficiency from highly localized regions of in a fraction of a second. The capabilities of this new nanodialysis device are reported in the journal ACS Nano.

“With our nanodialysis device, we take an established technique and push it into a new extreme, making problems that were impossible before quite feasible now,” said Yurii Vlasov, a U. of I. electrical & computer engineering professor and a co-lead of the study. “Moreover, since our devices are made on silicon using microelectronics fabrication techniques, they can be manufactured and deployed on large scales.”