Activation of the prefrontal cortex improves working memory

This release is available in Spanish . Psychologists and neurologists invest considerable effort in the study of working memory. In terms of information retention, there is a difference between long-term memory, which is affected in diseases such as Alzheimer, and short-term or working me...

In jazz improv, large portion of brain's prefrontal region 'takes 5' to let creativity flow

When John Coltrane was expanding the boundaries of the well-known song My Favorite Things at the Village Vanguard in May 1966, no one could have known what inspired him to take the musical turns he took. But imaging researchers may now have a better picture of how the brain was helping to carry hi...

Neuroimaging suggests that truthfulness requires no act of will for honest people

...nts' brains were most active in control-related brain regions when they chose not to lie. These control-related brain regions include the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex, and previous research has shown that these regions are active when an individual is asked to lie. While ...

Standard IQ Test May Undervalue People With Autism

... comparisons among visual images, according to the study. Compared with people without autism, autistic people showed less activity in areas of the prefrontal cortex of the brain that are thought to be involved in manipulation and integration of information in working memory, managing difficult tasks and eva...

Use science to convince teens a sober prom is better, AAAS says

...ant to Do Alcohol helps release inhibitions, and teens who drink may indulge in risky behaviors such as unprotected sex or drunk driving. The brain's prefrontal cortex, which is involved in planning and decision-making, does not completely mature until a person's mid-to-late twenties. Using alcohol can harm a ...

Shire's INTUNIV (Guanfacine) extended release in children with ADHD and oppositional symptoms

...ly to alpha-2A adrenergic receptors located in the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is an area of the brain associated with wor...ve alpha-2A agonist strengthens working memory and prefrontal cortex neuronal firing. This research supports th...

Shire to Present New Scientific Data on its ADHD Treatments at a National Scientific Meeting of Psychiatrists on May 18

...ly to alpha-2A adrenergic receptors located in the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is an area of the brain associated with wor...ve alpha-2A agonist strengthens working memory and prefrontal cortex neuronal firing. This research supports th...

Brain Stimulation Therapy Eases Tough-to-Treat Depression

...For this trial, a dozen patients with refractory depression were randomly assigned to receive 8 weeks of cortical stimulation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) area of the brain, which appears to play a role in depression, or to get "sham" stimulation. Those receiving the sham treatment were th...

Can't Control Junk Food Cravings? Blame the Brain

...evious research has shown that an area of the brain called the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is involved in all value-based decisions. When vmPFC activit...-controllers, however, another area of the brain -- called the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) -- becomes active and modulates the basic value signals so t...

Wayne State University and Children's Hospital of Michigan Research Team Discover Chemical That Plays a Major Role in Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

...e thalamus ('grand central station' in the brain), caudate nucleus (brain's secretary), anterior cingulate cortex (brain's arousal center) and orbital prefrontal cortex (brain's executive decision maker). This work showing glutamate abnormalities in OCD has significant treatment implications. Based in p...

prefrontal in Medical Technology

FDA Issues Complete Response Letter for INTUNIV(TM) (guanfacine) Extended Release for the Treatment of ADHD in Children and Adolescents

...ve alpha-2A agonist strengthens working memory and prefrontal cortex neuronal firing.(6) This research supports ...f executive functions: catecholamine influences on prefrontal cortical functions. Biol Psychiatry. 2005; 57:1377...al infusion of alpha-1 adrenergic agonist into the prefrontal cortex impairs spatial working memory performance ...

Shire Announces Study Results of the Effects of INTUNIV(TM) (Guanfacine) Extended Release on Secondary Measures in Children with ADHD and Oppositional Symptoms

...ly to alpha-2A adrenergic receptors located in the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is an area of the brain associated with wor...ve alpha-2A agonist strengthens working memory and prefrontal cortex neuronal firing. This research supports th...

Stress-Related Disorders Affect Brain's Processing of Memory

...alterations in the neural circuitry that links the prefrontal cortex to the hippocampus, while study participant...ed word. The fMRI images revealed that the prefrontal cortex, which controls the suppression and retriev...us, suggesting that insufficient activation of the prefrontal cortex could be the basis for inadequate suppressi...

NARSAD Researchers Identify Specific Genes and Family Traits Linked to Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder and Depression

...mpairment. In individuals who carry the risk variants of both MTHFR and COMT, lower-than-normal levels of dopamine in the part of the brain called the prefrontal cortex may cause problems with information processing and working memory. Using functional neuroimaging, Dr. Roffman and his colleagues also found tha...

Shire's Investigational Nonstimulant ADHD Treatment INTUNIV(TM) (Guanfacine Extended Release) Demonstrated Significant Efficacy in Reducing ADHD Symptoms at All Measured Time Points Up to 24 Hours Postdose

... alpha-2A adrenergic cell receptors located in the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is an area of the brain associated with exe...ve alpha-2A agonist strengthens working memory and prefrontal cortex neuronal firing. This research supports the...

Intra-Cellular Therapies Presents Preclinical Data From Schizophrenia and Sleep Maintenance Programs

...nsistent with the activity of a partial agonist at pre-synaptic dopamine receptors, thereby preserving normal dopamine metabolism. Furthermore, in the prefrontal cortex, a brain region profoundly affected in patients with schizophrenia, ITI-007's effects on extracellular concentrations of dopamine were consiste...

Shire Announces Positive Results of Studies With Guanfacine Extended Release, An Investigational Nonstimulant Medication Filed for the Treatment of ADHD in Children and Adolescents

... been shown that guanfacine HCI binds selectively to the alpha 2A adrenergic cell receptors that are found throughout the part of the brain called the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is an area of the brain associated with executive functioning, i.e., working memory, behavioral inhibition, regulation o...

prefrontal in Medical Definition

Episodic memory

...happened. See the hippocampus and memory . The prefrontal cortex (and in particular the left hemisphere ) ...as episodic encoding). Patients with damage to the prefrontal cortex can learn new information, but tend to do s... et al., 1989 ). Some researchers believe that the prefrontal cortex helps organize information for more efficie...

Neuropsychiatry

...nresolved feelings of homosexuality NMDA receptor activation in the human prefrontal cortex Ross et al (2006) Visual hallucination - retinogenicul... (2005), Uber and Treasure (2005) Bipolar disorder Narcissistic prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, anterior cingulate, amygdala Barrett et al (2003)...

prefrontal in Biological News

Both alcoholism and chronic smoking can damage the brain's prefrontal cortex

University of Utah researchers will receive up to $10.3 million to help develop a new prosthetic arm that would work, feel and look like a real arm. The Utah work is a key part of a U.S. Department of Defense contract worth up to $55 million to develop the new device for soldiers and potentially ot...

Short stressful events may improve working memory

...corticosterone (cortisol in humans) on the brain's prefrontal cortex, a key region that controls learning and em... involved in cognition and emotions, including the prefrontal cortex, have been identified as the primary target... glutamate receptor-mediated excitatory signals in prefrontal cortex circuits." The investigators have expand...

Brain's problem-solving function at work when we daydream

...important problems in our lives. Until now, the brain's "default network" which is linked to easy, routine mental activity and includes the medial prefrontal cortex (PFC), the posterior cingulate cortex and the temporoparietal junction was the only part of the brain thought to be active when our minds wand...

Flow of potassium into cells implicated in schizophrenia

...es have linked similar performance with genetic risk for schizophrenia. Inefficiently processed memory in the hippocampus and working memory in the prefrontal cortex, as revealed by functional MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans. Although they performed similarly to controls on these tasks, their brains ...

The genetics of fear: Study suggests specific genetic variations contribute to anxiety disorders

...important for learning, motivation and seeking rewards. A specific polymorphism in this gene results in higher levels of extracellular dopamine in the prefrontal cortex, leading to enhanced working memory but also greater levels of anxiety. In this experiment, volunteers were shown a picture (A) and then imm...

Researchers capture wave of brain activity linked to anticipation

...tween the songs excitatory signals passed from the prefrontal cortex to the nearby premotor cortex. The prefrontal cortex is the brain's "executive" center, which pl...tive of animals, which is why we have such a large prefrontal cortex. We have a lot of sequences that we need to...

Stress disrupts human thinking, but the brain can bounce back

...stress on rats shriveled nerve cells of the medial prefrontal cortex, and that a shrunken prefrontal cortex is linked to slower performance on attentio...heir foraging strategies. But while the restricted prefrontal cortex a larger version of which is thought to pl...

Interaction between gene variants may alter brain function in schizophrenia

...IND Clinical Imaging Consortium used functional MRI to scan an area of the prefrontal cortex known to be critical to working memory in 79 schizophrenia patients ...ive impacts of the gene variants on dopamine signaling, particularly in the prefrontal cortex. These findings may help us to identify patients more likely to ben...

Risk and reward compete in brain

...egions with competing responses to risk. Both regions are located in the prefrontal cortex, an area behind the forehead involved in analysis and planning. ...lerance in brain-damaged patients. He and other researchers showed that the prefrontal cortex is critical for proper risk assessment. But because brain lesions...

The 'satellite navigation' in our brains

...sat navs, strengthened over years of experience." In their study, Dr Spiers and Professor Maguire found that a part of the brain called the medial prefrontal cortex increased its activity the closer the taxi drivers came to their destination. However, it is still unclear how the brain knows which way we nee...

prefrontal in Biological Technology

Quantitation of GAD67 Gene Expression in Prefrontal Cortex of Schizophrenia Patients Using the iCycler iQ Detection System and Molecular Beacons, Rev A

Stella Dracheva, Bronx VA Medical Center, Psychiatry Research, 130 West Kingsbridge Road, Bronx, NY 10468 USA Introduction Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that afflicts about 1% of the population (Strange 1992). Patients ...

prefrontal in Biological Definition

Limbic system

...their limbic system will self-stimulate in preference over food and will eventually die of exhaustion. The limbic system is tightly connected to the prefrontal cortex . It has been conjectured that this connection is related to the pleasure obtained from solving problems. To cure severe emotional disorders, t...