Neuroscience

Sudden stress shifts human brain into survival mode

(Medical Xpress) -- In threatening situations, the brain adapts within seconds to prepare for an appropriate response. Some regions are temporarily suppressed. Others become more active and form temporarily alliances for ...

Neuroscience

Why the memory of fear is seared into our brains

Experiencing a frightening event is likely something you'll never forget. But why does it stay with you when other kinds of occurrences become increasingly difficult to recall with the passage of time?

Neuroscience

What stress does to the brain

Researchers at ETH Zurich have shown for the first time that selective release of the neurotransmitter noradrenaline reconfigures communication between large-scale networks in the brain. Their findings provide insights into ...

Neuroscience

Learning and unlearning to fear: The two faces of noradrenaline

Emotional learning can create strong memories and powerful emotional responses, but flexible behavior demands that these responses be inhibited when they are no longer appropriate. Scientists at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute ...

Neuroscience

How the brain responds to surprising events

When your brain needs you to pay attention to something important, one way it can do that is to send out a burst of noradrenaline, according to a new MIT study.

Psychology & Psychiatry

How the brain helps us focus our attention

How can we shift from a state of inattentiveness to one of highest attention? The locus coeruleus, literally the "blue spot," is a tiny cluster of cells at the base of the brain. As the main source of the neurotransmitter ...

Addiction

Breaking Bad and crystal meth—a chemical reaction

Crystal meth has at least two faces, in common with those people unfortunate enough to succumb to its charms, as these horrific before-and-after pics show. I'd like to look at the drug chemically, to shine a light on what ...

page 1 from 3