neuroscience9.16 min read
Decision-Making Emerges from Sensorimotor Loops, Not a Central Brain Center
5 days ago•Source: Neuroscience News
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7.345 min•10 days ago
Dopamine Sets the Pace of Stress-Driven Courtship Suppression in Flies
In fruit flies, researchers show that dopamine does not trigger the initial shutdown of mating drive under stress but acts as a molecular timer that sustains suppression after stress; longer confinement leads to longer-lasting courtship inhibition via dopamine signaling in the mushroom body, offering insights into stress-related sexual dysfunction that may extend to humans.
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Abdominal contractions trigger brain motion via a hydraulic-like mechanism, study finds
A Nature Neuroscience study in awake mice shows abdominal muscle contractions compress a network of veins called the vertebral venous plexus, pushing fluid and causing the brain to shift slightly within the skull. Using two-photon microscopy and computer simulations, researchers suggest this mechanical pumping could drive cerebrospinal fluid flow to clear waste, offering a potential mechanism for how exercise benefits brain health. The work used head-fixed mice on a spherical treadmill with abdominal pressure applied by a pneumatic belt, and notes limitations such as imaging only the top cortex and simplified anatomy, with human relevance still to be determined.
Hippocampus Under Anesthesia Reveals Language Processing and Rapid Plasticity
In seven patients undergoing anterior temporal lobe surgery, researchers recorded hippocampal neurons and local field potentials with Neuropixels during anesthesia and found that the hippocampus can still detect oddball sounds and extract semantic/grammatical features from language. The oddball representations grew over ~10 minutes, indicating rapid plasticity, and analyses showed single neurons and LFPs could predict upcoming words. A recurrent network model suggested this learning emerges from flexible tone discrimination, challenging the notion that high‑level processing requires conscious awareness even when consciousness is suppressed.
Psychopathy linked to expanded cortical surface in 800 incarcerated men
A study of 804 incarcerated men finds that higher psychopathy scores are linked to an expanded cortical surface area and a compressed cortical gradient, with distinct relations between empathy types and psychopathic traits and region-specific changes in social-emotional brain regions; the authors note limitations from self-report empathy measures and the male-inmate sample, recommending broader replication and exploration of underlying cellular mechanisms.
Wakeful sleep-like brain waves may underlie attention lapses in ADHD
A study found that sleep-like, high-amplitude slow waves intrude into wakefulness more often in adults with ADHD, correlating with more variable reaction times and more commission errors during a 52-minute attention task; researchers suggest waking slow waves may link sleep regulation to ADHD and could serve as a biomarker, though more replication is needed.
Nose maps reveal striped blueprint for scent receptors
Detailed maps of mouse olfactory receptors show ~1,100 receptors arranged in horizontal stripes across the nasal epithelium, overturning the long-held zonal model. Using single-cell sequencing and spatial transcriptomics on millions of neurons, researchers linked each receptor to a specific nose position and uncovered a retinoic acid gradient that guides development. A companion study adds an atlas of receptor expression and neural connections to the olfactory bulb, advancing the nose-to-brain map of smell.
A genome-first view of how the human brain evolved
This Nature Neuroscience review outlines a 'genome-up' approach to decoding human brain evolution by leveraging thousands of genomes from mammals, non-human primates, ancient humans and modern humans to identify genomic regions under selection. It emphasizes integrating comparative experiments and functional dissection of human-evolved loci, and calls for expanding cohorts and applying diverse contexts to link genetic changes to cognitive and social traits across evolutionary timescales.
Caffeine Reverses Sleep-Loss Disruptions in Social Memory Circuit
New research finds sleep deprivation disrupts the hippocampal CA2 circuit involved in social memory, but caffeine pretreatment reverses the deficits by modulating adenosine receptors, restoring synaptic plasticity and social recognition without broad brain overstimulation.
Train Your Brain to Embrace Uncertainty and See Possibilities
The article argues that our brains are wired to fear uncertainty due to energy costs and negativity bias, but we can train ourselves to tolerate ambiguity by cultivating curiosity, seeking diverse perspectives, practicing critical thinking, and regulating emotions. By recognizing that perception constructs reality and learning to hold multiple interpretations, we can foster flexible, creative thinking. Practical steps include asking what is not yet known, learning from adaptive environments (like Formula One teams), mindful breathing, mindfulness, regular exercise, and mindful information consumption, all while balancing realism with cautious optimism. The goal is not to eliminate uncertainty but to relate to it in a way that enhances learning, decision-making, and openness to possibility.
Hidden Brain Wiring Predicts Behavior Across Multiple Networks
A Yale-led study published in Nature Human Behavior shows that the 90% of brain connections usually labeled as noise can predict behavior as accurately as the top 10%; predictive information is widely distributed across multiple, non-overlapping networks, revealing brain redundancy and functional flexibility. This challenges the idea of a single correct network, with implications for psychiatry (e.g., depression) and for biomarkers and treatments, which should target overlooked circuits to improve precision medicine.
Anterior insula ties narcissistic traits to emotional suppression, study shows
A 172-person MRI study ties narcissistic traits to anterior insula structure: higher grandiose and vulnerable narcissism are linked to smaller right anterior insula volume (left insula for vulnerable narcissism) and reduced gyrification. Mediation analyses show expressive suppression mediates the link between insula structure and narcissism, with bidirectional effects suggesting emotion-hiding habits and brain anatomy influence each other. Findings come from healthy adults and may not generalize to clinical populations.