Most neuroscience studies investigating motor skills are carried out on rodents. In these experiments, rodents are typically tested on simple motor tasks that they can easily complete using motor behaviors in their repertoire, or slightly adapted versions of these...
The cerebellum, a major structure in the human hindbrain, is known to be of central importance for enabling several motor functions, along with cognition, emotional regulation and language processing. Compared to the cerebral cortex, however, this structure is still...
Dendritic spines, small membranous protrusions emerging from a brain cell's dendrite, help to transmit electrical signals to neurons. These spines can have a variety of different shapes, ranging from so-called "stubby" to "mushroom-like."
Emotion regulation is an essential aspect of mental health and wellbeing. In fact, past studies have found associations between poor emotion regulation and several psychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder and complex...
In contrast with other animal species on Earth, over the course of their life, humans can develop a fairly clear idea of who they are as individuals and what sets them apart from others. This abstract concept of self is known to be fragmented and fuzzy in individuals...
Over the past decades, psychologists and neuroscientists worldwide have been trying to gain a better understanding of how humans make simple decisions about the state of the world around them. To do this, they devised theoretical models describing how decisions should...
Researchers at University of Illinois and City University of New York have recently carried out a study investigating the effects of early acoustic experiences on gene activation in songbirds. Their paper, published in Elsevier's journal Neuroscience Letters, shows...
Past neuroscience research has consistently highlighted the role of the hippocampal formation in contextual memory, the ability to remember specific contexts or environments. In this brain area, context is typically represented by the activity of a specific neuronal...
Serotonin (5-HT), one of the primary hormones released in the human brain, has many essential functions. For instance, serotonin is known to stabilize the mood, produce feelings of well-being, regulate sleep patterns and facilitate communication between cells.
The hippocampus is a brain structure within the temporal lobe known to play a key role in memory and learning. The hippocampus contains neural networks that support what is known as declarative memory. This is the human ability to recall specific facts or events that...