Thinking Outside the Box About Memory

Researcher Eleanor Maguire argues that long-term storage of autobiographical memories is done by the vmPFC, part of the prefrontal cortex, while the hippocampus plays a subordinate but critical role. She presented new research at the FENS Forum in Berlin last month.

Grief vs. Depression: Psychiatry Grapples with Defining the Lines Between ‘Typical’ Grieving, ‘Complicated’ Grief, and Clinical Depression

The interrelationships between grief and depression are multifaceted–they share common features and can co-occur. How do we differentiate between these similar but different mental states?

Heroin vs. the Runner’s High: Different Action on Neurons

Researchers had assumed that opioid drugs mimicked the actions of naturally occurring opioids in the brain, binding to the surface of cells, but new research shows that drugs also enter the cell and bind to internal components. This difference could help point the way to treatments that are less addictive than currently available opioids.

Do Complex Tasks Train Your Brain to be More Efficient?

Musicians and people who speak multiple languages are faster at identifying sound location and type but show differences in speed of recalling past sounds.

The Sleep-Deprived Brain

NIH researchers find that a single night’s missed sleep increases levels of amyloid-beta in the brain, adding to the evidence that maintaining healthy sleep habits is good medicine.

Nibbling on Neurons: A Closer Look at Synaptic Pruning

Researchers in Italy have built a better scanner, and found that some microglia aren’t removing whole synapses but merely “nibbling” on them. Perhaps that means that these glia are clearing space for making a new memory, not deleting memories.