Giving “targeted” social support to people in need activates regions of the brain involved in parental care, according to a new study. And that may help researchers understand the positive health effects of social ties. The study was published in August 2018 in Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine, the journal of the American Psychosomatic… Continue reading “Parental” Regions of Brain Activated by Helping Others
Tag: amygdala
Reconditioning the Brain to Overcome Fear
Fear-related disorders affect around one in 14 people and place considerable pressure on mental health services. Currently, a common approach is for patients to undergo some form of aversion therapy, in which they confront their fear by being exposed to it in the hope they will learn that the thing they fear isn’t harmful after… Continue reading Reconditioning the Brain to Overcome Fear
A New Clue to Anxiety
Researchers have discovered a new pathway in the brain that controls “fear memories and behavior” – and that may be good news for the nearly 40 million adults who suffer from anxiety disorder. Scientists from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory had already discovered that “fear learning and memory are orchestrated by neurons in the central amygdala,”… Continue reading A New Clue to Anxiety