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记忆的关键来源
大脑对我们的感官所收集的信息进行编码。为了感知环境并与之互动，这些感觉信号必须在有过往经历的存储以及个人当前目标的背景下进行解释。弗莱堡大学医学院教授Johannes Letzkus现在已经确定了这种依赖于经历的，所谓自上而下信息的关键来源。该研究目前已在《Science》杂志上发表。 新大脑皮层是人类大脑中最大，最强大的区域。两种截然不同的信息流的融合使得其所有重要的认知功能得以实现：“自下而上”的信息流（表示环境信号）和“自上而下”的流（用于传输内部生成的有关过往经历和当前目标的信息）。Letzkus提及，关于如何以及在何处精确地处理内部生成的信息的问题仍待探讨，这促使他和他的团队寻找这些自上而下的信号的来源。目前，科学家成功地将丘脑区域（前脑深处的大脑区域）确定为此类内部信息的关键候选区域。
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长期饮酒会重塑大脑的免疫状况，从而引发焦虑和成瘾
在大脑深处，有一个形似小杏仁的区域，名为杏仁核，在我们展示情绪，行为和动机方面起着至关重要的作用，因此，它可能与酒精滥用密切相关。这也是Scripps研究所分子医学系教授Marisa Roberto博士长期关注的焦点。 Roberto和她的团队首次发现了抗炎机制的重要变化以及杏仁核中导致酒精成瘾的细胞活动。通过在小鼠体内对抗该过程，小鼠能够停止过量饮酒，从而揭示了一种潜在治疗饮酒障碍的途径。该研究目前已发表在《Progress in Neurobiology》。 该研究的第一作者Reesha Patel博士说：“我们发现长期饮酒会损害大脑的免疫细胞，而这些细胞对于维持健康的神经元很重要，由此产生的损害加剧了焦虑和酒精摄入，并可能导致饮酒障碍。”
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Envision color: Activity patterns in the brain are specific to the color you see
The geometry that describes the relationship among colors, and the neural mechanisms that support color vision, are unsettled. Here, we use multivariate analyses of measurements of brain activity obtained with magnetoencephalography to reverse-engineer a geometry of the neural representation of color space. The analyses depend upon determining similarity relationships among the spatial patterns of neural […]
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Key source of memories
The brain encodes information collected by our senses. In order to perceive and interact with the environment, however, these sensory signals must be interpreted in the context of past experiences stored in the brain and the individual’s current aims. A team led by Prof. Dr. Johannes Letzkus, Professor at the Faculty of Medicine Faculty of […]
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Scientists discover new mechanism controlling brain size
International research headed by Danish Scientists has taken an important step forward in understanding the complex mechanisms that control development of the so-called cerebral cortex, which is the part of the brain that play a key role in attention, perception, awareness, thought, memory, language, and consciousness. The results have just been published in the internationally […]
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Mediterranean Diet Helps Reduce Effects of Stress in Animal Model
Even before the pandemic and the presidential election, Americans reported some of the highest perceived levels of stress in the world, according to the American Psychological Association. Not only does stress have negative effects on work and personal relationships, it also increases the risk of many chronic conditions, such as heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease, […]
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Chronic alcohol use reshapes the brain’s immune landscape, driving anxiety and addiction
Deep within the brain, a small almond-shaped region called the amygdala plays a vital role in how we exhibit emotion, behavior and motivation. Understandably, it’s also strongly implicated in alcohol abuse, making it a long-running focus of Marisa Roberto, PhD, professor in Scripps Research’s Department of Molecular Medicine. Now, for the first time, Roberto and […]
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Low levels of choline in pregnant Black American women associated with higher levels of stress
Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have found that many pregnant Black Americans have low levels of choline, an essential nutrient that aids in prenatal brain development. Stress caused by institutional racism may play a role. The study, out now in Schizophrenia Bulletin, also found that these low levels of choline were […]
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What does recent neuroscience tell us about criminal responsibility?
A defendant is criminally responsible for his action only if he is shown to have engaged in a guilty act—actus reus (eg for larceny, voluntarily taking someone else’s property without permission)—while possessing a guilty mind—mens rea (eg knowing that he had taken someone else’s property without permission, intending not to return it)—and lacking affirmative defenses […]
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The Agent Brain: A Review of Non-invasive Brain Stimulation Studies on Sensing Agency
According to philosophy of mind and neuroscientific models, the sense of agency can be defined as the sense that I am the one that is generating an action and causing its effects. Such ability to sense ourselves as causal agents is critical for the definition of intentional behavior and is a primary root for human […]