Nucleus accumbens – Knowing Neurons

A sleeping brain on the left versus a brain lifting weights on the right. Illustrated by Rajamani Selvam.

The Neuroscience of Motivation and How to Improve It

September 4, 2019September 4, 2019 Marco Travaglio 0 Comments Dopamine, Insula, Limbic, Mesolimbic Pathway, Motivation, MRI, neurotransmitter, Nucleus accumbens, Prefrontal Cortex, Reward-Seeking Behavior, Ventral Tegmental Area

Motivation can be a hard thing to come by. Whether at home, at school or at work, most of us have been in a situation where we know exactly what… Read more

Big Ideas Brain Basics Did You Know?

Why Does Music Make Us Feel So Much?

July 12, 2017July 13, 2017 Amy Thomas 1 Comment Adiel Mallik, anhedonia, Daniel J. Levitin, Dopamine, Emotion, feeling, McGill University, Mona Lisa Chanda, Music, Naltrexone, NTX, Nucleus accumbens, opioids, reward circuit, serotonin

Whether you’re listening through tinny iPhone headphones on your morning commute or crying at a John Mayer concert, there is a special place in our hearts for music. But what… Read more

Did You Know? Neuro News

The Mighty and the Weak: How Science Explains Cuteness

October 26, 2016June 30, 2017 Joel Frohlich 1 Comment 2016, Circuit, Cute, Cuteness, Dopamine, fMRI, Kringelbach, MRI, Nucleus accumbens, PNAS, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Reward, Reward pathway

Cute things are usually vulnerable, fragile and weak. But cuteness itself is mighty indeed. Morten L. Kringelbach and his colleagues at the University of Oxford recently described cuteness as ‘one… Read more

Big Ideas Brain Basics Interviews Philosophy

Does Free Will Exist?

April 27, 2016July 10, 2017 Joel Frohlich 1 Comment Addiction, Alexander Batthyany, algorithm, Arthur Schopenhauer, Benjamin Libet, Brain, cellular automata, Daniel Dennett, determinism, Dice, Dopamine, EEG, Fate, Free Will, Huntington’s disease, Jack the Ripper, John-Dylan Haynes, Libet, Michael Gazzaniga, neurodegenerative, Nucleus accumbens, Philip K. Dick, Pierre-Simon Laplace, quantum indeterminacy

It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon. Professor Freeman is enjoying the Southern California weather on Professor Domino’s patio. Domino: Will it be Coke or Pepsi, Dr. Freeman? Freeman: That’s an easy… Read more

Brain Basics Did You Know? Popular Articles Sensation and Perception Videos

This is Your Brain on Music

February 10, 2016March 5, 2017 Kate Fehlhaber 8 Comments Amygdala, Anatomy, Auditory cortex, Brain, Cerebellum, Distracting, Dopamine, Emotion, Genius, Health, Hippocampus, Learning, Mozart, Music, Neuroanatomy, Neuroscience, Neurotranmistt, Nucleus accumbens, Prefrontal Cortex

Did You Know? Sensation and Perception

A Tale of Monogamy and Dopamine

January 21, 2016March 5, 2017 Jenn Tribble 1 Comment Ashley Madison, Coolidge effect, Dopamine, Dynamic Changes in Nucleus Accumbens Dopamine Efflux During the Coolidge Effect in Male Rats, Fiorino, Jennifer Tribble, Journal of Neuroscience, Mate, Mating, Mesolimbic, Monogamy, Motivation, Novely, Nucleus accumbens, Pathway, Pleasure, Prefrontal Cortex, Reward, Ventral Tegmental Area

In a recent hack, private information from nearly 30 million users was leaked from Ashley Madison, a “dating” website intended to facilitate extramarital affairs. The sheer number of Ashley Madison… Read more

Brain Basics Did You Know?

Bet on your Brain: The Psychology of Winning

April 9, 2014March 5, 2017 knowingneurons 0 Comments Adapt, Amygdala, Anatomy, Anterior cingulate, Brain, Dopamine, Emotions, Exercise, Focus, Hippocampus, Insula, Medial temporal lobe, Memory, Neuroanatomy, Nucleus accumbens, Orbitofrontal cortex, Prefrontal Cortex, Psychology, Resilience, Rewire, Striatum, Ventral Tegmental Area, Winning

Neurobiology of Depression Knowing Neurons

Did You Know? Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders

Depression and Inspiration

October 10, 2013March 5, 2017 Kate Fehlhaber 3 Comments Amygdala, Cg25, Deep Brain Stimulation, depression, Dopamine, Ghrelin, Hippocampus, HYP, Hypothalamus, Kevin Breel, Leptin, Major depressive disorder, MDD, NAc, Neurogenesis, Nucleus accumbens, stress, Subgenual cingulate cortex, Ventral Tegmental Area, VTA

Brain Basics Neuro News Sensation and Perception

The Newest Cupid on the Block: Epigenetics

June 10, 2013March 5, 2017 Anita 0 Comments 2013, Acetylation, Epigenetics, Histone, Histone Acetylation, Histone deacetylase inhibitor, Histone deacetylase inhibitors facilitate partner preference formation in female prairie voles, Histones, Hui Wang, Love, Mohamed Kabbaj, Monogamy, Nature Neuroscience, Nucleus accumbens, Oxytocin, Pair-bond, Pair-bonding, Prairie Voles, Trichostatin A, Vasopressin

Genes are no different from individuals. Sometimes they behave in a simple, logical way. Other times, they are unpredictable and influenced by their surroundings. The central dogma (DNA to RNA… Read more