Amygdala News and Research

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Blue light and brain function

The human brain uses light not just to support vision but also to support alertness and cognitive tasks.

29 Nov 2007

Is there an objective biological basis for the experience of beauty in art?

Or is aesthetic experience entirely subjective? This question has been addressed in a paper published in this week's PLoS ONE, Cinzia Di Dio, Emiliano Macaluso and Giacomo Rizzolatti. The researchers used fMRI scans to study the neural activity in subjects with no knowledge of art criticism, who were shown images of Classical and Renaissance sculptures.

21 Nov 2007

Lonesome people may have lower levels of specific brain hormone

The anxiety and aggression that result from social isolation have been traced to altered levels of an enzyme that controls production of a brain hormone.

15 Nov 2007

Optimism - how the brain generates the human tendency

A neural network that may generate the human tendency to be optimistic has been identified by researchers at New York University.

24 Oct 2007

Can a lack of sleep drive you crazy?

Scientists in the U.S. have linked a lack of sleep to mental illness; they say brain scans can show how the brain gets tired and over-emotional when someone is deprived of sleep.

24 Oct 2007

Fearful eyes and happy faces - how we perceive certain cues

You may not be fully dressed without a smile, but a look of horror will make a faster first impression.

15 Oct 2007

Poor self-esteem can trigger the primal fight-or-flight response

Few can tolerate such romantic or professional rebuffs as "It's not you, it's me" and "we regret to inform you that your application was not successful." But while a healthy dose of self-esteem can absorb the shock of rejection, poor self-esteem can trigger the primal fight-or-flight response, according to a new study from the University of California, Berkeley.

12 Oct 2007

How emotionally charged events leave their mark on memory

Researchers have uncovered new evidence in mice that may explain how emotionally charged situations can leave such a powerful mark on our memories.

4 Oct 2007

Mechanism behind nicotine dependency revealed

The research is being published the week of October 1, 2007, in an advance, online issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

2 Oct 2007

Research explains why opioids are thought to be ineffective in people with fibromyalgia

People who have the common chronic pain condition fibromyalgia often report that they don't respond to the types of medication that relieve other people's pain.

27 Sep 2007

Better understanding of circuitry in the brain's emotion center

Whether it's a mugger or a friend who jumps out of the bushes, you're still surprised.

20 Sep 2007

Why we remember bad events

Do you remember exactly where you were when you learned of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks?

29 Aug 2007

Brain imaging reveals breakdown of normal emotional processing

Brain imaging has revealed a breakdown in normal patterns of emotional processing that impairs the ability of people with clinical depression to suppress negative emotional states.

17 Aug 2007

Emotional brain circuits and depression

In what may be the first study to use brain imaging to look at the neural circuits involved in emotional control in patients with depression, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found that brains of people with clinical depression react very differently than those of healthy people when trying to cope with negative situations.

16 Aug 2007

ADHD linked to depressed dopamine activity in the brain

Adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) show a blunted response to the drug methylphenidate (Ritalin), which increases brain dopamine levels, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

7 Aug 2007

Fear protein found

A University of Iowa study shows that loss or chemical inhibition of a protein, known as acid sensing ion channel protein (ASIC1a), reduces innate fear behavior in lab animals, making normally timid mice relatively fearless.

2 Aug 2007

New view on role of protein synthesis in memory formation

New research from the University of Illinois challenges the premise that the brain must build new proteins in response to an experience for that experience to be recorded in long-term memory.

27 Jul 2007

Emotional memories can be suppressed with practice

A new University of Colorado at Boulder study shows people have the ability to suppress emotional memories with practice, which has implications for those suffering from conditions ranging from post-traumatic stress disorder to depression.

13 Jul 2007

Neurological reason for doing mindfulness meditation

Talking with a therapist or friend, writing in a journal, help us to feel better! A new brain imaging study by UCLA psychologists reveals why verbalizing our feelings makes our sadness, anger and pain less intense.

23 Jun 2007

Research reveals that a greater volume of grey encephalic matter exists in the brain areas of the right parahippocampus

A study undertaken by researchers of the Universitat Jaume I of Castellon (UJI), the Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona (UAB) and the company Eresa reveals the existence of a different anatomy in small areas of the brain which could help explain why one same stimulus triggers anxiety in some people and not in others.

9 May 2007