#neuroimaging — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #neuroimaging, aggregated by home.social.
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DATE: July 27, 2026 at 12:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Brain structure differences in autism map onto serotonin receptor locations
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-structure-differences-in-autism-map-onto-serotonin-receptor-locations/
A neuroimaging study found that autistic individuals whose cortical thickness deviated most from that of neurotypical peers tended to experience greater social and communication difficulties. In autistic individuals, the cortical regions showing the greatest differences in thickness relative to neurotypical individuals also tended to have a higher density of serotonin receptors. The research provides evidence linking brain structure, neurochemistry, and behavioral traits in autism. The paper was published in Autism Research.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects how a person communicates, interacts with others, processes sensory information, and experiences the world. It is called a spectrum because its characteristics and level of support needs vary widely between individuals.
Some autistic people have difficulty interpreting social cues, maintaining conversations, or understanding unwritten social rules. Others are able to communicate fluently but still find social interaction tiring, confusing, or overwhelming. Repetitive movements, strong preferences for routines, intense interests, and unusual responses to sounds, lights, textures, or smells are also common.
Autism begins early in development, although it may not be recognized until later in childhood or adulthood. It is a lifelong form of neurological difference that may bring both difficulties and strengths. Many autistic people show beneficial qualities such as strong attention to detail, deep knowledge in areas of interest, logical thinking, creativity, or exceptional memory.
Study author Livio Tarchi and his colleagues note that previous research indicates consistent structural differences between the brains of individuals with autism and their neurotypical peers. The authors suggest these differences might be connected to the brain’s neurotransmitter systems. Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that carry signals between brain cells. The researchers specifically focused on systems using serotonin, dopamine, and glutamate.
The scientists investigated how structural differences in the brain might map onto the spatial distribution of these chemical messengers. They analyzed data from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange. This public dataset contains physical measurements, behavioral assessments, and brain scans collected across twenty different sites.
The data used in this analysis came from 1,035 participants. The sample included 505 autistic individuals and 530 neurotypical individuals. The average age of participants was about 17 years old. Both groups were predominantly male, reflecting historical diagnosis patterns.
The study authors used structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data to calculate deviations from expected cortical thickness. Cortical thickness refers to the depth of the brain’s outer layer of gray matter, which is responsible for complex thought and sensory processing. They measured this thickness across thousands of individual points, called vertices, on the surface of the brain. These measurements were adjusted for both the sex and age of each participant.
Next, the researchers compared these structural measurements against reference maps of neurotransmitter receptor density. Receptors are protein structures on cells that receive chemical messages. These reference maps were derived from separate, previously published imaging studies. This allowed the authors to see if areas with unusual thickness in autistic individuals aligned with regions known to have high concentrations of specific neurotransmitters.
The results showed widespread deviations in cortical thickness in the brains of autistic participants compared to neurotypical participants. The structural differences tended to be larger in areas of the brain with a higher density of serotonin receptors. The researchers did not find a similar spatial link for dopamine or glutamate receptors. At the individual level, greater deviations in cortical thickness were associated with greater difficulties in social and communication domains.
These findings provide evidence for a neurobiological link between autism, brain structure, and serotonin. However, the participants in this study were mostly male. Because brain development and cortical thickness can vary by sex, studies involving more female participants might yield different results. Future research could help clarify these connections and guide tailored support strategies for autistic individuals.
The paper, “Autism and Cortical Thickness Deviation From Neurotypical Controls: Evidence for a Spatial Association With Serotonin Receptors,” was authored by Livio Tarchi, Arne Doose, Julius Hennig, Fabio Bernardoni, Joseph A. King, Tiziana Pisano, Giovanni Castellini, Valdo Ricca, Inge Kamp-Becker, and Stefan Ehrlich.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-structure-differences-in-autism-map-onto-serotonin-receptor-locations/
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
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-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #AutismBrain #CorticalThickness #SerotoninReceptors #Neuroimaging #AutismResearch #Neurodevelopment #BrainStructure #SocialCommunication #NeurotypicalVsAutistic #SerotoninMapping
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DATE: July 27, 2026 at 12:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Brain structure differences in autism map onto serotonin receptor locations
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-structure-differences-in-autism-map-onto-serotonin-receptor-locations/
A neuroimaging study found that autistic individuals whose cortical thickness deviated most from that of neurotypical peers tended to experience greater social and communication difficulties. In autistic individuals, the cortical regions showing the greatest differences in thickness relative to neurotypical individuals also tended to have a higher density of serotonin receptors. The research provides evidence linking brain structure, neurochemistry, and behavioral traits in autism. The paper was published in Autism Research.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects how a person communicates, interacts with others, processes sensory information, and experiences the world. It is called a spectrum because its characteristics and level of support needs vary widely between individuals.
Some autistic people have difficulty interpreting social cues, maintaining conversations, or understanding unwritten social rules. Others are able to communicate fluently but still find social interaction tiring, confusing, or overwhelming. Repetitive movements, strong preferences for routines, intense interests, and unusual responses to sounds, lights, textures, or smells are also common.
Autism begins early in development, although it may not be recognized until later in childhood or adulthood. It is a lifelong form of neurological difference that may bring both difficulties and strengths. Many autistic people show beneficial qualities such as strong attention to detail, deep knowledge in areas of interest, logical thinking, creativity, or exceptional memory.
Study author Livio Tarchi and his colleagues note that previous research indicates consistent structural differences between the brains of individuals with autism and their neurotypical peers. The authors suggest these differences might be connected to the brain’s neurotransmitter systems. Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that carry signals between brain cells. The researchers specifically focused on systems using serotonin, dopamine, and glutamate.
The scientists investigated how structural differences in the brain might map onto the spatial distribution of these chemical messengers. They analyzed data from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange. This public dataset contains physical measurements, behavioral assessments, and brain scans collected across twenty different sites.
The data used in this analysis came from 1,035 participants. The sample included 505 autistic individuals and 530 neurotypical individuals. The average age of participants was about 17 years old. Both groups were predominantly male, reflecting historical diagnosis patterns.
The study authors used structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data to calculate deviations from expected cortical thickness. Cortical thickness refers to the depth of the brain’s outer layer of gray matter, which is responsible for complex thought and sensory processing. They measured this thickness across thousands of individual points, called vertices, on the surface of the brain. These measurements were adjusted for both the sex and age of each participant.
Next, the researchers compared these structural measurements against reference maps of neurotransmitter receptor density. Receptors are protein structures on cells that receive chemical messages. These reference maps were derived from separate, previously published imaging studies. This allowed the authors to see if areas with unusual thickness in autistic individuals aligned with regions known to have high concentrations of specific neurotransmitters.
The results showed widespread deviations in cortical thickness in the brains of autistic participants compared to neurotypical participants. The structural differences tended to be larger in areas of the brain with a higher density of serotonin receptors. The researchers did not find a similar spatial link for dopamine or glutamate receptors. At the individual level, greater deviations in cortical thickness were associated with greater difficulties in social and communication domains.
These findings provide evidence for a neurobiological link between autism, brain structure, and serotonin. However, the participants in this study were mostly male. Because brain development and cortical thickness can vary by sex, studies involving more female participants might yield different results. Future research could help clarify these connections and guide tailored support strategies for autistic individuals.
The paper, “Autism and Cortical Thickness Deviation From Neurotypical Controls: Evidence for a Spatial Association With Serotonin Receptors,” was authored by Livio Tarchi, Arne Doose, Julius Hennig, Fabio Bernardoni, Joseph A. King, Tiziana Pisano, Giovanni Castellini, Valdo Ricca, Inge Kamp-Becker, and Stefan Ehrlich.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-structure-differences-in-autism-map-onto-serotonin-receptor-locations/
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #AutismBrain #CorticalThickness #SerotoninReceptors #Neuroimaging #AutismResearch #Neurodevelopment #BrainStructure #SocialCommunication #NeurotypicalVsAutistic #SerotoninMapping
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DATE: July 24, 2026 at 08:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Learning a new skill triggers both temporary cell swelling and lasting structural growth in the human brain
A new study published in PLoS Biology has found that learning a new motor skill sets off two different types of cellular changes in the human brain. The findings suggest that the brain experiences a temporary swelling of cell bodies followed by a long-lasting growth of cellular extensions in specific regions. This dual response offers a deeper understanding of how the human brain physically adapts when we learn something new.
Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to remodel its physical structure in response to new experiences. This biological process supports learning and memory, and it also influences a person’s vulnerability to neurological conditions.
Valeria Della-Maggiore, an associate professor at the National University of San Martin and the University of Buenos Aires, led the research. She also serves as an adjunct professor at McGill University and directs the Physiology of Action Lab.
“Structural plasticity, the brain’s ability to remodel its connections in response to experience, is fundamental to learning and memory and shapes development and degenerative disorders,” she told PsyPost. She explained that most human studies over the past two decades have used standard MRI protocols to detect changes in brain microstructure, assuming these changes were always plastic in nature.
“Yet animal studies show that cells may undergo structural changes that do not always reflect synapse remodeling,” Della-Maggiore said. “To disambiguate plastic from non-plastic processes, we combined ultra-high-gradient diffusion MRI with SANDI, a biophysical model that allows making inferences at the level of cellular compartments, that is, cell bodies and cell processes.”
To measure structural changes in humans, scientists have typically relied on a brain scanning technique called diffusion tensor imaging, or DTI. This method measures how water molecules move and diffuse through brain tissue. By tracking this water movement, scientists can infer changes in the brain’s microscopic structure.
DTI blends the signals from various parts of the brain tissue together. “DTI captures a single, global signal: it can tell you that a change in one region lasts longer than in another, but not what underlies it,” Della-Maggiore said. Because of this blending, the technique cannot easily distinguish between a permanent structural change and a temporary biological reaction.
To address this limitation, the authors utilized highly sensitive magnetic resonance imaging paired with the specialized mathematical model called Soma and Neurite Density Imaging, or SANDI. Rather than grouping all tissue signals together, SANDI separates the scanning signals into three distinct categories. These categories include the cell bodies, the cellular extensions called neurites, and the extracellular fluid surrounding the cells.
“This study was only possible through a genuinely multidisciplinary effort, in which neuroscientists, experts in diffusion MRI, mathematicians and modeling specialists, and engineers worked together around a single scientific question,” Della-Maggiore said.
The collaboration included her lab along with the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre. “Bringing these different forms of expertise into alignment is what made it possible to extract biological insight from a non-invasive measurement, something no single discipline could have achieved on its own,” she added.
The study included 29 healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 36, consisting of 16 females and 13 males. All participants were right-handed and reported no history of neurological or psychiatric conditions. They completed a motor sequence learning task involving typing a specific five-number sequence on a keyboard using the four fingers of their left, non-dominant hand. The exact sequence was 4-1-3-2-4, with the number 4 representing the index finger and the number 1 representing the pinky finger.
Participants were instructed to type the sequence as quickly and accurately as possible. They completed 15 practice blocks of this finger-tapping sequence. Each block consisted of 12 sequences and was separated by 25 seconds of rest. The entire training session took about 15 to 20 minutes.
To assess how well the participants retained the skill overnight, they were asked to complete eight additional practice blocks 24 hours later. To track brain activity and physical changes, the scientists used an ultra-high-gradient MRI scanner, which offers exceptional sensitivity for capturing microscopic tissue details. They collected functional MRI scans to measure active brain regions during the task. They also collected advanced diffusion MRI scans at three specific points: before the practice session began, 30 minutes after the practice ended, and 24 hours later.
The behavioral data showed that participants improved their typing speed and accuracy primarily during the short rest periods between practice blocks. The functional brain scans aligned with this observation, revealing increased activity in the brain’s memory and motor regions during these brief breaks. However, the most specific discoveries emerged from the SANDI model used to track cellular changes.
“When you learn a new skill, two processes of different spatial and temporal dynamics take place in your brain at the cellular level,” Della-Maggiore said. “One is transient and occurs at the level of cell bodies, which increase in size across all brain regions engaged by the task. The other is persistent, confined to the regions specifically involved in learning, and occurs at the level of cell processes, compatible with structural plasticity.”
The researchers found that DTI scans alone missed a layer of detail. “Our approach revealed something DTI cannot see, that the regions showing lasting changes also carry a transient response,” Della-Maggiore explained. “In other words, beneath what DTI reads as a single persistent effect, there are in fact two distinct processes unfolding on different timescales.”
Specifically, the researchers found a temporary increase in the apparent density of cell bodies across all the brain areas engaged by the task. These areas included the hippocampus, the primary motor cortex, the posterior parietal cortex, and the precuneus. This physical change was observed 30 minutes after the practice session. By the 24-hour mark, the cell bodies in these regions had returned to their normal baseline size.
“The second [surprise] was the spatial pattern: a transient change at the level of the cell body appeared uniformly across all regions engaged by learning, whereas the sustained change in cellular processes was confined to those regions specific to the learned skill,” Della-Maggiore said. “It was this dissociation, in both space and time, that let us infer different biological processes underlying these responses: a homeostatic process such as swelling of cell bodies induced by increased neuronal activity, and cell-process remodeling mediating genuine structural plasticity.”
The authors propose that this short-lived cell expansion is a temporary biological reaction to balance out intense cellular activity. When brain cells are highly active, they experience an imbalance of ions. To correct this imbalance, water flows into the cells, causing them to temporarily swell.
In addition to the temporary swelling, the SANDI model revealed a second, longer-lasting change in specific areas of the brain. The researchers observed a sustained increase in the density of cellular extensions in the precuneus and the posterior parietal cortex. These cellular extensions include structures like dendrites and axons, which connect different brain cells to one another.
This increase in cellular extensions persisted a full day after the learning task. The researchers noticed a direct link to task performance. “Notably, the more a person improved, the stronger this second change was,” Della-Maggiore said.
Interestingly, this long-lasting structural remodeling did not occur in the hippocampus. The hippocampus is a brain region known for helping encode new memories early in the learning process. The findings suggest that while the hippocampus is engaged initially, the long-term structural changes required to retain a motor skill happen in the outer layers of the brain, known as the cortex.
“The broader message is that a change in brain structure is not, in itself, evidence of learning-related plasticity,” Della-Maggiore said. “Being able to separate these processes in a living brain, non-invasively, provides something that did not exist before in human neuroscience: a mechanistic window onto brain plasticity, allowing us to begin inferring biological mechanisms directly in humans rather than relying on animal models.”
Interpreting these findings requires acknowledging a few limitations related to the scanning technology. The SANDI model estimates relative signal fractions of cell components rather than providing a direct physical measurement of cellular volume. The technique relies on specific mathematical assumptions about how water moves in the brain.
“Our approach does not quantify cells or cell processes directly,” Della-Maggiore explained. “It infers how much different cellular components contribute to the MRI signal, based on a biophysical model whose interpretation is grounded in animal and histological evidence.”
She added that referring to changes in cell bodies or cell processes involves principled inferences, not microscopic observations. “The strength of the method lies in tracking how these signals evolve over time, compared against the person’s own baseline,” she said.
The study focused on a specific finger-tapping task in a small group of healthy young adults. Different types of learning, such as studying a new language or solving complex math problems, might engage different cellular mechanisms. “Our broader aim is to keep refining this approach to probe the biological mechanisms of plasticity in ever greater detail, directly in humans,” Della-Maggiore said.
The researchers hope to apply this multi-compartment imaging approach to other areas of neuroscience. “Beyond learning, distinguishing genuine, adaptive remodeling from other processes could prove valuable in contexts such as development, aging, and disease, including conditions like neurodegeneration or neuroinflammation, where telling apart healthy from harmful structural change is both difficult and clinically important,” she said.
“The results move the field beyond descriptive diffusion changes toward mechanistic inference, which is particularly valuable for studies of learning, development, and disease,” Della-Maggiore concluded.
The study, “Learning engages transient and sustained cellular mechanisms in the human brain,” was authored by Guillermina Griffa, Marco Palombo, Abraham Yeffal, Hong-Hsi Lee, Agustin Solano, Susie Y. Huang, and Valeria Della-Maggiore.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #BrainPlasticity #Neurobiology #LearningAndMemory #Neuroimaging #SANDI #DTI #MotorSkillLearning #DiffusionMRI #Hippocampus #Cortex
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DATE: July 24, 2026 at 08:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Learning a new skill triggers both temporary cell swelling and lasting structural growth in the human brain
A new study published in PLoS Biology has found that learning a new motor skill sets off two different types of cellular changes in the human brain. The findings suggest that the brain experiences a temporary swelling of cell bodies followed by a long-lasting growth of cellular extensions in specific regions. This dual response offers a deeper understanding of how the human brain physically adapts when we learn something new.
Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to remodel its physical structure in response to new experiences. This biological process supports learning and memory, and it also influences a person’s vulnerability to neurological conditions.
Valeria Della-Maggiore, an associate professor at the National University of San Martin and the University of Buenos Aires, led the research. She also serves as an adjunct professor at McGill University and directs the Physiology of Action Lab.
“Structural plasticity, the brain’s ability to remodel its connections in response to experience, is fundamental to learning and memory and shapes development and degenerative disorders,” she told PsyPost. She explained that most human studies over the past two decades have used standard MRI protocols to detect changes in brain microstructure, assuming these changes were always plastic in nature.
“Yet animal studies show that cells may undergo structural changes that do not always reflect synapse remodeling,” Della-Maggiore said. “To disambiguate plastic from non-plastic processes, we combined ultra-high-gradient diffusion MRI with SANDI, a biophysical model that allows making inferences at the level of cellular compartments, that is, cell bodies and cell processes.”
To measure structural changes in humans, scientists have typically relied on a brain scanning technique called diffusion tensor imaging, or DTI. This method measures how water molecules move and diffuse through brain tissue. By tracking this water movement, scientists can infer changes in the brain’s microscopic structure.
DTI blends the signals from various parts of the brain tissue together. “DTI captures a single, global signal: it can tell you that a change in one region lasts longer than in another, but not what underlies it,” Della-Maggiore said. Because of this blending, the technique cannot easily distinguish between a permanent structural change and a temporary biological reaction.
To address this limitation, the authors utilized highly sensitive magnetic resonance imaging paired with the specialized mathematical model called Soma and Neurite Density Imaging, or SANDI. Rather than grouping all tissue signals together, SANDI separates the scanning signals into three distinct categories. These categories include the cell bodies, the cellular extensions called neurites, and the extracellular fluid surrounding the cells.
“This study was only possible through a genuinely multidisciplinary effort, in which neuroscientists, experts in diffusion MRI, mathematicians and modeling specialists, and engineers worked together around a single scientific question,” Della-Maggiore said.
The collaboration included her lab along with the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre. “Bringing these different forms of expertise into alignment is what made it possible to extract biological insight from a non-invasive measurement, something no single discipline could have achieved on its own,” she added.
The study included 29 healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 36, consisting of 16 females and 13 males. All participants were right-handed and reported no history of neurological or psychiatric conditions. They completed a motor sequence learning task involving typing a specific five-number sequence on a keyboard using the four fingers of their left, non-dominant hand. The exact sequence was 4-1-3-2-4, with the number 4 representing the index finger and the number 1 representing the pinky finger.
Participants were instructed to type the sequence as quickly and accurately as possible. They completed 15 practice blocks of this finger-tapping sequence. Each block consisted of 12 sequences and was separated by 25 seconds of rest. The entire training session took about 15 to 20 minutes.
To assess how well the participants retained the skill overnight, they were asked to complete eight additional practice blocks 24 hours later. To track brain activity and physical changes, the scientists used an ultra-high-gradient MRI scanner, which offers exceptional sensitivity for capturing microscopic tissue details. They collected functional MRI scans to measure active brain regions during the task. They also collected advanced diffusion MRI scans at three specific points: before the practice session began, 30 minutes after the practice ended, and 24 hours later.
The behavioral data showed that participants improved their typing speed and accuracy primarily during the short rest periods between practice blocks. The functional brain scans aligned with this observation, revealing increased activity in the brain’s memory and motor regions during these brief breaks. However, the most specific discoveries emerged from the SANDI model used to track cellular changes.
“When you learn a new skill, two processes of different spatial and temporal dynamics take place in your brain at the cellular level,” Della-Maggiore said. “One is transient and occurs at the level of cell bodies, which increase in size across all brain regions engaged by the task. The other is persistent, confined to the regions specifically involved in learning, and occurs at the level of cell processes, compatible with structural plasticity.”
The researchers found that DTI scans alone missed a layer of detail. “Our approach revealed something DTI cannot see, that the regions showing lasting changes also carry a transient response,” Della-Maggiore explained. “In other words, beneath what DTI reads as a single persistent effect, there are in fact two distinct processes unfolding on different timescales.”
Specifically, the researchers found a temporary increase in the apparent density of cell bodies across all the brain areas engaged by the task. These areas included the hippocampus, the primary motor cortex, the posterior parietal cortex, and the precuneus. This physical change was observed 30 minutes after the practice session. By the 24-hour mark, the cell bodies in these regions had returned to their normal baseline size.
“The second [surprise] was the spatial pattern: a transient change at the level of the cell body appeared uniformly across all regions engaged by learning, whereas the sustained change in cellular processes was confined to those regions specific to the learned skill,” Della-Maggiore said. “It was this dissociation, in both space and time, that let us infer different biological processes underlying these responses: a homeostatic process such as swelling of cell bodies induced by increased neuronal activity, and cell-process remodeling mediating genuine structural plasticity.”
The authors propose that this short-lived cell expansion is a temporary biological reaction to balance out intense cellular activity. When brain cells are highly active, they experience an imbalance of ions. To correct this imbalance, water flows into the cells, causing them to temporarily swell.
In addition to the temporary swelling, the SANDI model revealed a second, longer-lasting change in specific areas of the brain. The researchers observed a sustained increase in the density of cellular extensions in the precuneus and the posterior parietal cortex. These cellular extensions include structures like dendrites and axons, which connect different brain cells to one another.
This increase in cellular extensions persisted a full day after the learning task. The researchers noticed a direct link to task performance. “Notably, the more a person improved, the stronger this second change was,” Della-Maggiore said.
Interestingly, this long-lasting structural remodeling did not occur in the hippocampus. The hippocampus is a brain region known for helping encode new memories early in the learning process. The findings suggest that while the hippocampus is engaged initially, the long-term structural changes required to retain a motor skill happen in the outer layers of the brain, known as the cortex.
“The broader message is that a change in brain structure is not, in itself, evidence of learning-related plasticity,” Della-Maggiore said. “Being able to separate these processes in a living brain, non-invasively, provides something that did not exist before in human neuroscience: a mechanistic window onto brain plasticity, allowing us to begin inferring biological mechanisms directly in humans rather than relying on animal models.”
Interpreting these findings requires acknowledging a few limitations related to the scanning technology. The SANDI model estimates relative signal fractions of cell components rather than providing a direct physical measurement of cellular volume. The technique relies on specific mathematical assumptions about how water moves in the brain.
“Our approach does not quantify cells or cell processes directly,” Della-Maggiore explained. “It infers how much different cellular components contribute to the MRI signal, based on a biophysical model whose interpretation is grounded in animal and histological evidence.”
She added that referring to changes in cell bodies or cell processes involves principled inferences, not microscopic observations. “The strength of the method lies in tracking how these signals evolve over time, compared against the person’s own baseline,” she said.
The study focused on a specific finger-tapping task in a small group of healthy young adults. Different types of learning, such as studying a new language or solving complex math problems, might engage different cellular mechanisms. “Our broader aim is to keep refining this approach to probe the biological mechanisms of plasticity in ever greater detail, directly in humans,” Della-Maggiore said.
The researchers hope to apply this multi-compartment imaging approach to other areas of neuroscience. “Beyond learning, distinguishing genuine, adaptive remodeling from other processes could prove valuable in contexts such as development, aging, and disease, including conditions like neurodegeneration or neuroinflammation, where telling apart healthy from harmful structural change is both difficult and clinically important,” she said.
“The results move the field beyond descriptive diffusion changes toward mechanistic inference, which is particularly valuable for studies of learning, development, and disease,” Della-Maggiore concluded.
The study, “Learning engages transient and sustained cellular mechanisms in the human brain,” was authored by Guillermina Griffa, Marco Palombo, Abraham Yeffal, Hong-Hsi Lee, Agustin Solano, Susie Y. Huang, and Valeria Della-Maggiore.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #BrainPlasticity #Neurobiology #LearningAndMemory #Neuroimaging #SANDI #DTI #MotorSkillLearning #DiffusionMRI #Hippocampus #Cortex
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DATE: July 17, 2026 at 02:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Brain structure variations are linked to different types of traumatic memories
New research reveals that the microstructural integrity of specific brain pathways is associated with how intensely a person experiences intrusive memories after a trauma. Published in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, the study suggests that distinct white matter connections correspond to different physical and emotional qualities of these recurring flashbacks.
Trauma-related intrusive memories are spontaneous and emotionally overwhelming sensory recollections. Individuals who experience them often feel as though the traumatic event is occurring in the present moment, blurring the line between past trauma and current reality. These intrusive flashbacks are a defining symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, and they frequently dictate the overall severity of a person’s condition.
Despite the massive impact these intrusive memories have on quality of life, the precise neurobiological mechanisms that govern their unique properties remain poorly understood. Many people experience intrusive memories differently. Some might find that their memories are dominated by intense visual fragments, while others might feel an overwhelming sense of reliving the event physically and emotionally.
To develop better therapeutic interventions, scientists are attempting to understand the exact physical wiring in the brain that supports these varied experiences. Theoretical models propose that the sensory details of traumatic flashbacks stem from a disruption in the way different brain regions communicate.
The hippocampus, a seahorse-shaped region deep in the brain, is fundamentally responsible for forming and retrieving episodic memories. When a memory is recalled, the hippocampus usually communicates with posterior cortical systems. These outer layers of the brain are involved in processing sensory information, reconstructing mental scenes, and maintaining a person’s internal sense of self.
Steven J. Granger, a researcher at McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School, led a team to investigate the structural pathways that bridge these distinct neural systems. The researchers hypothesized that the microscopic organization of these specific cellular pathways might explain why some people have trauma memories characterized primarily by sudden intrusiveness, while others experience memories defined by a profound sense of reliving the event.
The human brain relies on white matter to facilitate this complex communication. White matter tissue acts as a biological scaffolding, built from insulated nerve fibers called axons that bundle together to connect disparate brain regions. These pathways dictate which parts of the brain can interact, controlling the speed and efficiency with which electrical signals travel.
Prior functional brain imaging indicated that the subjective qualities of intrusive memories tend to correspond with how frequently the hippocampus activates alongside other brain networks. Still, the physical structure supporting these functional networks had not yet been evaluated in relation to the everyday experience of traumatic memories.
To capture the true nature of traumatic memories as they happen, Granger and his colleagues recruited 114 adults who had survived a traumatic event. These participants were experiencing regular intrusive memories, and a majority met the criteria for a formal PTSD diagnosis.
Most laboratory studies of trauma rely on asking patients to voluntarily recall their distressing experiences in a clinical setting. To avoid this artificial environment, the research team used a smartphone application to administer periodic surveys to the participants over the course of two weeks.
This technique, known as ecological momentary assessment, allowed the team to track spontaneous memories as they struck in the real world. Several times a day, participants received prompts to report if an intrusive memory had occurred since their last check-in. If they said yes, they immediately rated the memory’s vividness, visual detail, emotional intensity, intrusiveness, and the degree to which they felt they were actively reliving the event.
After the two-week reporting period, the participants underwent a specialized type of magnetic resonance imaging. The researchers used a technique called diffusion-weighted imaging, which tracks the tiny movements of water molecules within brain tissue. Because water diffuses differently alongside cellular barriers, mapping this movement allows scientists to visualize the direction and density of white matter fibers.
Using this imaging data, the researchers calculated a metric called fractional anisotropy. This metric serves as an index of white matter microstructural integrity, essentially measuring how organized and tightly bundled the nerve fibers are within a specific pathway.
The team focused their analysis on two separate white matter pathways that connect the hippocampus to the back of the brain. The first target was the parahippocampal-parietal cingulum, a localized branch of nerve fibers linking the memory center to regions involved in mental imagery and the integration of internal thoughts.
The second target was the inferior longitudinal fasciculus. This thick band of white matter provides a direct communication route between the brain’s temporal memory areas and the visual cortex, which processes sights.
The researchers analyzed their brain scans alongside the thousands of real-world smartphone survey responses. To ensure their mathematical models were as accurate as possible, they incorporated information from their previous functional imaging studies, a statistical approach that anchors new structural data to known patterns of biological activity.
They found that the microscopic integrity of the two separate pathways corresponded to entirely different features of the trauma memories. Specifically, they discovered that a lower level of structural integrity in the parahippocampal-parietal cingulum was associated with a higher degree of memory intrusiveness.
To confirm that this association was unique to the examined memory pathway, the researchers also tested a control tract in the frontal lobe of the brain. They found no relationship between the frontal pathway and memory intrusiveness, supporting their hypothesis that the specific connection between the hippocampus and the parietal cortex plays a distinct role in managing unwanted thoughts.
This particular brain bundle projects to posterior regions that help govern memory suppression and the allocation of attention. If the structural integrity of this pathway is degraded, the brain might have a compromised ability to suppress unwanted memories, opening the door for the spontaneous and unprompted intrusions that define traumatic flashbacks.
In contrast, the researchers found that lower microstructural organization in the inferior longitudinal fasciculus was linked to a stronger sense of reliving the trauma in the present moment. This associative pathway connects memory areas to the visual cortex, playing a unique role in integrating incoming visual signals with emotional information.
When this secondary pathway is compromised, individuals might experience a failure to separate internal traumatic memories from their current visual reality. This biological blurring of boundaries could contribute to the overwhelming sensation that makes severe trauma memories so disorienting.
Because the research team conducted their brain imaging at a single point in time, the study cannot definitively determine the directionality of these relationships. It remains entirely unknown whether a natural variation in white matter integrity serves as a preexisting vulnerability that predisposes a person to intense traumatic memories after an event occurs.
Alternatively, the structural differences observed in the scans could be a biological consequence of repeatedly experiencing severe intrusive thoughts over time. The constant, repetitive retrieval of highly charged traumatic memories might physically alter the brain’s white matter pathways, similar to how repeated use changes a physical path through a forest.
Future research will require scientists to image trauma survivors repeatedly during the early aftermath of a distressing event, tracking how both the brain structure and the psychological symptoms evolve over several months or years. Additional studies involving controlled laboratory recall and naturalistic tracking in the exact same individuals could also clarify the biological overlap between voluntary and involuntary memories.
Through integrating the real-world tracking of memory experiences with advanced mapping of anatomical brain connections, researchers are gaining a deeper understanding of PTSD. Eventually, translating these physical variations into clinical profiles could help doctors pinpoint specific neural circuits, opening the door for treatments that target the specific memory symptoms a patient struggles with most.
The study, “Microstructural Integrity of Hippocampal–Posterior Cortical White Matter Is Associated With Phenomenological Properties of Trauma-Related Intrusive Memories,” was authored by Steven J. Granger, Boyu Ren, Kevin J. Clancy, Yara Pollmann, Justin T. Baker, and Isabelle M. Rosso.
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DATE: July 17, 2026 at 02:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Brain structure variations are linked to different types of traumatic memories
New research reveals that the microstructural integrity of specific brain pathways is associated with how intensely a person experiences intrusive memories after a trauma. Published in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, the study suggests that distinct white matter connections correspond to different physical and emotional qualities of these recurring flashbacks.
Trauma-related intrusive memories are spontaneous and emotionally overwhelming sensory recollections. Individuals who experience them often feel as though the traumatic event is occurring in the present moment, blurring the line between past trauma and current reality. These intrusive flashbacks are a defining symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, and they frequently dictate the overall severity of a person’s condition.
Despite the massive impact these intrusive memories have on quality of life, the precise neurobiological mechanisms that govern their unique properties remain poorly understood. Many people experience intrusive memories differently. Some might find that their memories are dominated by intense visual fragments, while others might feel an overwhelming sense of reliving the event physically and emotionally.
To develop better therapeutic interventions, scientists are attempting to understand the exact physical wiring in the brain that supports these varied experiences. Theoretical models propose that the sensory details of traumatic flashbacks stem from a disruption in the way different brain regions communicate.
The hippocampus, a seahorse-shaped region deep in the brain, is fundamentally responsible for forming and retrieving episodic memories. When a memory is recalled, the hippocampus usually communicates with posterior cortical systems. These outer layers of the brain are involved in processing sensory information, reconstructing mental scenes, and maintaining a person’s internal sense of self.
Steven J. Granger, a researcher at McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School, led a team to investigate the structural pathways that bridge these distinct neural systems. The researchers hypothesized that the microscopic organization of these specific cellular pathways might explain why some people have trauma memories characterized primarily by sudden intrusiveness, while others experience memories defined by a profound sense of reliving the event.
The human brain relies on white matter to facilitate this complex communication. White matter tissue acts as a biological scaffolding, built from insulated nerve fibers called axons that bundle together to connect disparate brain regions. These pathways dictate which parts of the brain can interact, controlling the speed and efficiency with which electrical signals travel.
Prior functional brain imaging indicated that the subjective qualities of intrusive memories tend to correspond with how frequently the hippocampus activates alongside other brain networks. Still, the physical structure supporting these functional networks had not yet been evaluated in relation to the everyday experience of traumatic memories.
To capture the true nature of traumatic memories as they happen, Granger and his colleagues recruited 114 adults who had survived a traumatic event. These participants were experiencing regular intrusive memories, and a majority met the criteria for a formal PTSD diagnosis.
Most laboratory studies of trauma rely on asking patients to voluntarily recall their distressing experiences in a clinical setting. To avoid this artificial environment, the research team used a smartphone application to administer periodic surveys to the participants over the course of two weeks.
This technique, known as ecological momentary assessment, allowed the team to track spontaneous memories as they struck in the real world. Several times a day, participants received prompts to report if an intrusive memory had occurred since their last check-in. If they said yes, they immediately rated the memory’s vividness, visual detail, emotional intensity, intrusiveness, and the degree to which they felt they were actively reliving the event.
After the two-week reporting period, the participants underwent a specialized type of magnetic resonance imaging. The researchers used a technique called diffusion-weighted imaging, which tracks the tiny movements of water molecules within brain tissue. Because water diffuses differently alongside cellular barriers, mapping this movement allows scientists to visualize the direction and density of white matter fibers.
Using this imaging data, the researchers calculated a metric called fractional anisotropy. This metric serves as an index of white matter microstructural integrity, essentially measuring how organized and tightly bundled the nerve fibers are within a specific pathway.
The team focused their analysis on two separate white matter pathways that connect the hippocampus to the back of the brain. The first target was the parahippocampal-parietal cingulum, a localized branch of nerve fibers linking the memory center to regions involved in mental imagery and the integration of internal thoughts.
The second target was the inferior longitudinal fasciculus. This thick band of white matter provides a direct communication route between the brain’s temporal memory areas and the visual cortex, which processes sights.
The researchers analyzed their brain scans alongside the thousands of real-world smartphone survey responses. To ensure their mathematical models were as accurate as possible, they incorporated information from their previous functional imaging studies, a statistical approach that anchors new structural data to known patterns of biological activity.
They found that the microscopic integrity of the two separate pathways corresponded to entirely different features of the trauma memories. Specifically, they discovered that a lower level of structural integrity in the parahippocampal-parietal cingulum was associated with a higher degree of memory intrusiveness.
To confirm that this association was unique to the examined memory pathway, the researchers also tested a control tract in the frontal lobe of the brain. They found no relationship between the frontal pathway and memory intrusiveness, supporting their hypothesis that the specific connection between the hippocampus and the parietal cortex plays a distinct role in managing unwanted thoughts.
This particular brain bundle projects to posterior regions that help govern memory suppression and the allocation of attention. If the structural integrity of this pathway is degraded, the brain might have a compromised ability to suppress unwanted memories, opening the door for the spontaneous and unprompted intrusions that define traumatic flashbacks.
In contrast, the researchers found that lower microstructural organization in the inferior longitudinal fasciculus was linked to a stronger sense of reliving the trauma in the present moment. This associative pathway connects memory areas to the visual cortex, playing a unique role in integrating incoming visual signals with emotional information.
When this secondary pathway is compromised, individuals might experience a failure to separate internal traumatic memories from their current visual reality. This biological blurring of boundaries could contribute to the overwhelming sensation that makes severe trauma memories so disorienting.
Because the research team conducted their brain imaging at a single point in time, the study cannot definitively determine the directionality of these relationships. It remains entirely unknown whether a natural variation in white matter integrity serves as a preexisting vulnerability that predisposes a person to intense traumatic memories after an event occurs.
Alternatively, the structural differences observed in the scans could be a biological consequence of repeatedly experiencing severe intrusive thoughts over time. The constant, repetitive retrieval of highly charged traumatic memories might physically alter the brain’s white matter pathways, similar to how repeated use changes a physical path through a forest.
Future research will require scientists to image trauma survivors repeatedly during the early aftermath of a distressing event, tracking how both the brain structure and the psychological symptoms evolve over several months or years. Additional studies involving controlled laboratory recall and naturalistic tracking in the exact same individuals could also clarify the biological overlap between voluntary and involuntary memories.
Through integrating the real-world tracking of memory experiences with advanced mapping of anatomical brain connections, researchers are gaining a deeper understanding of PTSD. Eventually, translating these physical variations into clinical profiles could help doctors pinpoint specific neural circuits, opening the door for treatments that target the specific memory symptoms a patient struggles with most.
The study, “Microstructural Integrity of Hippocampal–Posterior Cortical White Matter Is Associated With Phenomenological Properties of Trauma-Related Intrusive Memories,” was authored by Steven J. Granger, Boyu Ren, Kevin J. Clancy, Yara Pollmann, Justin T. Baker, and Isabelle M. Rosso.
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #TraumaMemories #PTSDResearch #Hippocampus #WhiteMatter #Neuroimaging #DiffusionTensorImaging #IntrusiveMemories #MemoryReliving #BrainStructure #MentalHealthScience
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DATE: July 17, 2026 at 09:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Autistic brains show differences in a fetal fold linked to social cognition
URL: https://www.psypost.org/autistic-brains-show-differences-in-a-fetal-fold-linked-to-social-cognition/
The physical arrangement of brain folds in an area linked to social and emotional processing appears altered in young males with autism spectrum disorder. A recent analysis of brain imaging data shows that neurotypical boys often exhibit a lopsided folding pattern that is less common in their autistic peers. The researchers published their work in the journal Cerebral Cortex.
The human brain is characterized by its heavily wrinkled outer layer, known as the cerebral cortex. This structure is packed with elevated ridges and deep grooves. Together, these folds function to maximize the sheer amount of neural tissue that can fit inside the cramped space of the human skull.
The valleys or grooves pushing deep into the brain tissue are called sulci. Most of the surface area of the cerebral cortex actually sits buried within these hidden grooves. Because the cortex coordinates higher-order mental functions, scientists actively study the shape and location of these folds to better understand human cognition and neurodevelopment.
One specific sub-region of this outer layer is the anterior cingulate cortex. This region operates as a central hub for emotional regulation, cognitive control, and social cognition. These represent broad areas of mental processing that are often affected in individuals with autism spectrum disorder, or ASD.
A prominent anatomical feature stretching within the anterior cingulate cortex is the paracingulate sulcus. The paracingulate sulcus is a tertiary brain fold that runs parallel to the main groove of the region. Unlike some major brain folds that appear practically identical in every human, this specific groove exhibits extreme physical variation across the population.
Some people develop a long, prominent paracingulate sulcus in both the left and right hemispheres of their brain. Others completely lack this secondary fold on both sides. When the fold is present, its exact shape and trajectory differ wildly from person to person.
In neurotypical populations, the presence of the paracingulate sulcus is usually asymmetrical. People frequently develop this fold in the left hemisphere of the brain, while the right hemisphere remains relatively smooth in that specific area. Past studies indicate that variations in this left-to-right pattern correlate with performance in executive function tasks and the ability to infer what others are thinking.
Because these cognitive traits closely overlap with the varied expressions of autism, researchers wanted to map the paracingulate sulcus in autistic individuals. Ethan Willbrand and Enrique Martinez, neuroscientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of California, Berkeley, led the investigative team. They aimed to outline the precise characteristics of this particular sulcus in young people with autism.
The research team utilized existing structural magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, scans of 200 young males ranging in age from five to 18. Half of the participants were previously diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. The other half were neurotypical individuals.
To ensure their analytic frameworks were robust and accurately represented reality, the scientists split these participants equally into a primary discovery group and a secondary replication group. This split-sample method allows researchers to verify their initial statistical models against an entirely separate batch of data.
Trained raters manually evaluated the MRI scans of each participant to determine the presence or absence of the paracingulate sulcus in both brain hemispheres. A fold had to measure at least 20 millimeters in length and four millimeters in depth to be officially classified as functionally present. Defining the limits of an elusive fold manually is recognized as the gold standard in neuroanatomy research.
In addition to checking for the basic presence of the fold, the team used computer algorithms to extract exact geometrical proportions. They measured the overall length of the paracingulate sulcus by tracing its longest unbroken path. They also calculated the maximum sulcal depth and the average thickness of the gray matter lining the inside of the groove.
The analysis revealed a consistent difference in how the paracingulate sulcus was distributed across the left and right brain hemispheres. Neurotypical participants were highly likely to have an asymmetrical folding pattern, typically featuring the groove on the left side of the brain but lacking it on the right side. In contrast, participants with autism spectrum disorder exhibited increased structural symmetry.
For the autistic participants, the specific left-heavy asymmetry was greatly reduced. They were much more likely to possess a matching set of features, either harboring the groove on both sides of the brain or lacking it uniformly across both sides. The likelihood of having an asymmetric paracingulate sulcus was substantially higher for neurotypical boys than for autistic boys.
This structural difference remained constant even when the researchers adjusted their statistical models to account for potential confounding variables. The team controlled for the participants’ ages, their measured intelligence quotients, and the physical location of the medical centers where the MRI scans were conducted.
While the overall structural symmetry behaved differently among the groups, the specific physical dimensions of the groove did not. Statistical tests indicated that the length, depth, and cortical thickness of the paracingulate sulcus did not differ between the autistic and neurotypical brains. The findings for these specific geometric measurements were not statistically significant in either the primary discovery group or the replication group.
This contrast highlights a well-known distinction between different features of human neuroanatomy. Tertiary brain folds like the paracingulate sulcus begin to form internally well before birth, usually initiating around the 36th week of human gestation. This structural blueprint reflects very early biological constraints placed on the growing fetal brain.
Such early formation suggests a prenatal origin for the observed symmetry differences in autistic youth. The relatively symmetrical layout found in the autistic brains likely points to early biological variations in the genetic factors or cellular mechanics that dictate how the fetal brain physically folds itself. Once these basic folds are set in utero, their layout remains largely stable throughout life.
Measurements like a fold’s depth or the thickness of its outer gray matter, on the other hand, are remarkably dynamic. Cortical thickness changes throughout childhood development, shrinking or growing in response to life experiences, learning, and physical maturation. Because these dynamic measurements did not differ between the groups, the researchers suggest the neuroanatomical differences associated with autism operate primarily at distances rooted in a person’s earliest prenatal development.
While the anatomical variation is notable, the current study comes with multiple limitations. The participant pool included only young males under the age of 20. Autism spectrum disorder presents with immense biological diversity, and brain folding patterns are occasionally known to differ heavily based on biological sex. This means the researchers’ findings cannot simply be generalized to autistic females or older adults.
Additionally, the researchers could not directly link the anatomical differences to specific behavioral or cognitive traits in this exact population. The public imaging database they relied upon did not include uniform cognitive testing details for all 200 participants. Understanding how the symmetry of this central brain fold actually influences everyday mental tasks will require a dedicated follow-up project.
Mapping human brain folds by hand also takes a substantial amount of time. This limits the total number of scans scientists can reasonably analyze in a single anatomical project. The research team recommends that future work direct investments into the development of automated computer-based tools that can accurately trace brain folds that are not instinctively universally present.
Such advanced technology would allow anatomical experts to process thousands of scans simultaneously. This would eventually help map the highly variable physical landscape of the human brain on a much larger scale, revealing exactly how a tiny prenatal fold shapes human behavior over an entire lifetime.
The study, “Anterior cingulate folding pattern is altered in autism spectrum disorder,” was authored by Ethan H. Willbrand, Enrique Martinez, Jacob J. Ludwig, Samira A. Maboudian, and Kevin S. Weiner.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/autistic-brains-show-differences-in-a-fetal-fold-linked-to-social-cognition/
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-
DATE: July 17, 2026 at 09:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Autistic brains show differences in a fetal fold linked to social cognition
URL: https://www.psypost.org/autistic-brains-show-differences-in-a-fetal-fold-linked-to-social-cognition/
The physical arrangement of brain folds in an area linked to social and emotional processing appears altered in young males with autism spectrum disorder. A recent analysis of brain imaging data shows that neurotypical boys often exhibit a lopsided folding pattern that is less common in their autistic peers. The researchers published their work in the journal Cerebral Cortex.
The human brain is characterized by its heavily wrinkled outer layer, known as the cerebral cortex. This structure is packed with elevated ridges and deep grooves. Together, these folds function to maximize the sheer amount of neural tissue that can fit inside the cramped space of the human skull.
The valleys or grooves pushing deep into the brain tissue are called sulci. Most of the surface area of the cerebral cortex actually sits buried within these hidden grooves. Because the cortex coordinates higher-order mental functions, scientists actively study the shape and location of these folds to better understand human cognition and neurodevelopment.
One specific sub-region of this outer layer is the anterior cingulate cortex. This region operates as a central hub for emotional regulation, cognitive control, and social cognition. These represent broad areas of mental processing that are often affected in individuals with autism spectrum disorder, or ASD.
A prominent anatomical feature stretching within the anterior cingulate cortex is the paracingulate sulcus. The paracingulate sulcus is a tertiary brain fold that runs parallel to the main groove of the region. Unlike some major brain folds that appear practically identical in every human, this specific groove exhibits extreme physical variation across the population.
Some people develop a long, prominent paracingulate sulcus in both the left and right hemispheres of their brain. Others completely lack this secondary fold on both sides. When the fold is present, its exact shape and trajectory differ wildly from person to person.
In neurotypical populations, the presence of the paracingulate sulcus is usually asymmetrical. People frequently develop this fold in the left hemisphere of the brain, while the right hemisphere remains relatively smooth in that specific area. Past studies indicate that variations in this left-to-right pattern correlate with performance in executive function tasks and the ability to infer what others are thinking.
Because these cognitive traits closely overlap with the varied expressions of autism, researchers wanted to map the paracingulate sulcus in autistic individuals. Ethan Willbrand and Enrique Martinez, neuroscientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of California, Berkeley, led the investigative team. They aimed to outline the precise characteristics of this particular sulcus in young people with autism.
The research team utilized existing structural magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, scans of 200 young males ranging in age from five to 18. Half of the participants were previously diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. The other half were neurotypical individuals.
To ensure their analytic frameworks were robust and accurately represented reality, the scientists split these participants equally into a primary discovery group and a secondary replication group. This split-sample method allows researchers to verify their initial statistical models against an entirely separate batch of data.
Trained raters manually evaluated the MRI scans of each participant to determine the presence or absence of the paracingulate sulcus in both brain hemispheres. A fold had to measure at least 20 millimeters in length and four millimeters in depth to be officially classified as functionally present. Defining the limits of an elusive fold manually is recognized as the gold standard in neuroanatomy research.
In addition to checking for the basic presence of the fold, the team used computer algorithms to extract exact geometrical proportions. They measured the overall length of the paracingulate sulcus by tracing its longest unbroken path. They also calculated the maximum sulcal depth and the average thickness of the gray matter lining the inside of the groove.
The analysis revealed a consistent difference in how the paracingulate sulcus was distributed across the left and right brain hemispheres. Neurotypical participants were highly likely to have an asymmetrical folding pattern, typically featuring the groove on the left side of the brain but lacking it on the right side. In contrast, participants with autism spectrum disorder exhibited increased structural symmetry.
For the autistic participants, the specific left-heavy asymmetry was greatly reduced. They were much more likely to possess a matching set of features, either harboring the groove on both sides of the brain or lacking it uniformly across both sides. The likelihood of having an asymmetric paracingulate sulcus was substantially higher for neurotypical boys than for autistic boys.
This structural difference remained constant even when the researchers adjusted their statistical models to account for potential confounding variables. The team controlled for the participants’ ages, their measured intelligence quotients, and the physical location of the medical centers where the MRI scans were conducted.
While the overall structural symmetry behaved differently among the groups, the specific physical dimensions of the groove did not. Statistical tests indicated that the length, depth, and cortical thickness of the paracingulate sulcus did not differ between the autistic and neurotypical brains. The findings for these specific geometric measurements were not statistically significant in either the primary discovery group or the replication group.
This contrast highlights a well-known distinction between different features of human neuroanatomy. Tertiary brain folds like the paracingulate sulcus begin to form internally well before birth, usually initiating around the 36th week of human gestation. This structural blueprint reflects very early biological constraints placed on the growing fetal brain.
Such early formation suggests a prenatal origin for the observed symmetry differences in autistic youth. The relatively symmetrical layout found in the autistic brains likely points to early biological variations in the genetic factors or cellular mechanics that dictate how the fetal brain physically folds itself. Once these basic folds are set in utero, their layout remains largely stable throughout life.
Measurements like a fold’s depth or the thickness of its outer gray matter, on the other hand, are remarkably dynamic. Cortical thickness changes throughout childhood development, shrinking or growing in response to life experiences, learning, and physical maturation. Because these dynamic measurements did not differ between the groups, the researchers suggest the neuroanatomical differences associated with autism operate primarily at distances rooted in a person’s earliest prenatal development.
While the anatomical variation is notable, the current study comes with multiple limitations. The participant pool included only young males under the age of 20. Autism spectrum disorder presents with immense biological diversity, and brain folding patterns are occasionally known to differ heavily based on biological sex. This means the researchers’ findings cannot simply be generalized to autistic females or older adults.
Additionally, the researchers could not directly link the anatomical differences to specific behavioral or cognitive traits in this exact population. The public imaging database they relied upon did not include uniform cognitive testing details for all 200 participants. Understanding how the symmetry of this central brain fold actually influences everyday mental tasks will require a dedicated follow-up project.
Mapping human brain folds by hand also takes a substantial amount of time. This limits the total number of scans scientists can reasonably analyze in a single anatomical project. The research team recommends that future work direct investments into the development of automated computer-based tools that can accurately trace brain folds that are not instinctively universally present.
Such advanced technology would allow anatomical experts to process thousands of scans simultaneously. This would eventually help map the highly variable physical landscape of the human brain on a much larger scale, revealing exactly how a tiny prenatal fold shapes human behavior over an entire lifetime.
The study, “Anterior cingulate folding pattern is altered in autism spectrum disorder,” was authored by Ethan H. Willbrand, Enrique Martinez, Jacob J. Ludwig, Samira A. Maboudian, and Kevin S. Weiner.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/autistic-brains-show-differences-in-a-fetal-fold-linked-to-social-cognition/
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #AutismResearch #BrainFolds #ParacingulateSulcus #CerebralCortex #AutismSpectrumDisorder #Neuroimaging #BrainDevelopment #SocialCognition #PrenatalBrain #Neuroanatomy
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DATE: July 17, 2026 at 07:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Study finds complex association between dietary fat intake and brain atrophy in older adults
An analysis of Vanderbilt Memory and Aging Project study data found that a high-fat diet was associated with a faster reduction in temporal lobe volume in cognitively unimpaired participants. However, in individuals with mild cognitive impairment, adherence to the same type of diet was associated with a slower enlargement of the inferior lateral ventricle area of the brain. The paper was published in Alzheimer’s Dementia.
As people age, their risk of developing dementia increases, although dementia is not an inevitable part of normal aging. Dementias are disorders involving progressive declines in memory, reasoning, language, judgment, or other cognitive abilities that interfere with daily life. The most common type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. This disease is associated with an abnormal accumulation of proteins called amyloid plaques and tau tangles in the brain.
Aside from Alzheimer’s disease, dementias also include vascular dementia (resulting from reduced blood flow or damage to brain tissues caused by strokes or small-vessel disease), Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and others. The exact causes of dementias are not fully understood, but scientists believe that they are caused by a complex interaction between genetic predispositions and the environment. Up to 40% of the risk is attributable to modifiable lifestyle factors, including diet.
Lei Fan, a researcher at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and colleagues examined whether dietary fat intake was associated with changes in gray matter atrophy rates detected using neuroimaging over time in older adults. They were also interested in interactions of these changes with cognitive status, their dependence on sex, and whether an individual is a carrier of the APOE ε4 gene variant. APOE ε4 is a gene variant that increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
These researchers analyzed data from the Vanderbilt Memory and Aging Project. This is a longitudinal observational study that investigates vascular and neurological health and the aging of older individuals free of clinical dementia at enrollment. The data came from 758 participants of the Vanderbilt Memory and Aging Project Legacy Cohort and the Expansion Cohort. Their average age was 67 years. About 47% were men, and 35% were carriers of the APOE ε4 gene variant.
The Legacy Cohort recruitment began in September 2012, and all participants were required to be at least 60 years old, have adequate auditory and visual acuity, and have a reliable study partner. The Expansion Cohort recruited individuals aged 50 years or older and recruitment started in August 2021.
Depending on their assessed cognitive status, participants were categorized as either cognitively unimpaired or mildly cognitively impaired. Participants completed magnetic resonance imaging of their brains at enrollment in the study and on at least one more occasion. They also completed a questionnaire called the Quick Food Scan fat screener, allowing study authors to estimate their total dietary fat intake. Data were collected at the start of the study, 18 months later, and then 3, 5, 7, and 9 years after the start of the study.
Results showed that, cross-sectionally at baseline, neither total fat intake nor the percentage of energy derived from fats was associated with the total volume of the brain’s gray matter or with the volumes of specific lobes of the brain. However, longitudinally over an average of 4.6 years, individuals deriving a higher percentage of their energy from fats tended to show a slower rate of enlargement of the interior lateral ventricle volume. This association was weak, and it disappeared when study authors corrected their detection thresholds for multiple comparisons.
Further analysis showed that the percentage of energy derived from fat was associated with a faster reduction in temporal lobe volume in cognitively unimpaired participants. In contrast, in individuals with mild cognitive impairment, a higher percentage of energy derived from fat was associated with slower enlargement of the inferior lateral ventricle region of the brain.
The temporal lobe is a region of the brain that supports memory and language. The inferior lateral ventricles are spaces filled with fluids near the temporal lobe. Their enlargement reflects the loss of brain tissue in surrounding areas.
“A high-fat diet is associated with accelerated gray matter atrophy, particularly in [Alzheimer’s disease-relevant] regions such as the temporal lobe, in [cognitively unimpaired] adults, but is associated with slower atrophy in individuals with existing [mild cognitive impairment], which is mainly driven by APOE ε4 carriers and/or female individuals,” the study authors concluded.
“Different mechanisms may be involved in the fat–neurodegeneration relationship across cognitive statuses. Halted atrophy associated with a high-fat diet, observed exclusively in individuals with existing [mild cognitive impairment], may reflect the role of fat as part of a compensatory mechanism in response to progressive [Alzheimer’s disease] pathology and metabolic challenges.”
The study contributes to the scientific understanding of the links between diet and mental health. However, it should be noted that the design of this study does not allow any causal inferences to be derived from the results. It is also limited by the fact that the cohort was predominantly white, well-educated, and relatively healthy. Additionally, a single self-reported dietary fat assessment at baseline may not reflect long-term variations in dietary intake.
The paper, “High-fat diet is associated with accelerated gray matter atrophy in cognitively unimpaired older adults but slower atrophy in individuals with existing mild cognitive impairment,” was authored by Lei Fan, Yunyi Sun, Dandan Liu, W. Hudson Robb, Kimberly R. Pechman, Niranjana Shashikumar, Yukti Vyas, Bennett A. Landman, Timothy J. Hohman, and Angela L. Jefferson.
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-
DATE: July 17, 2026 at 07:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Study finds complex association between dietary fat intake and brain atrophy in older adults
An analysis of Vanderbilt Memory and Aging Project study data found that a high-fat diet was associated with a faster reduction in temporal lobe volume in cognitively unimpaired participants. However, in individuals with mild cognitive impairment, adherence to the same type of diet was associated with a slower enlargement of the inferior lateral ventricle area of the brain. The paper was published in Alzheimer’s Dementia.
As people age, their risk of developing dementia increases, although dementia is not an inevitable part of normal aging. Dementias are disorders involving progressive declines in memory, reasoning, language, judgment, or other cognitive abilities that interfere with daily life. The most common type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. This disease is associated with an abnormal accumulation of proteins called amyloid plaques and tau tangles in the brain.
Aside from Alzheimer’s disease, dementias also include vascular dementia (resulting from reduced blood flow or damage to brain tissues caused by strokes or small-vessel disease), Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and others. The exact causes of dementias are not fully understood, but scientists believe that they are caused by a complex interaction between genetic predispositions and the environment. Up to 40% of the risk is attributable to modifiable lifestyle factors, including diet.
Lei Fan, a researcher at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and colleagues examined whether dietary fat intake was associated with changes in gray matter atrophy rates detected using neuroimaging over time in older adults. They were also interested in interactions of these changes with cognitive status, their dependence on sex, and whether an individual is a carrier of the APOE ε4 gene variant. APOE ε4 is a gene variant that increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
These researchers analyzed data from the Vanderbilt Memory and Aging Project. This is a longitudinal observational study that investigates vascular and neurological health and the aging of older individuals free of clinical dementia at enrollment. The data came from 758 participants of the Vanderbilt Memory and Aging Project Legacy Cohort and the Expansion Cohort. Their average age was 67 years. About 47% were men, and 35% were carriers of the APOE ε4 gene variant.
The Legacy Cohort recruitment began in September 2012, and all participants were required to be at least 60 years old, have adequate auditory and visual acuity, and have a reliable study partner. The Expansion Cohort recruited individuals aged 50 years or older and recruitment started in August 2021.
Depending on their assessed cognitive status, participants were categorized as either cognitively unimpaired or mildly cognitively impaired. Participants completed magnetic resonance imaging of their brains at enrollment in the study and on at least one more occasion. They also completed a questionnaire called the Quick Food Scan fat screener, allowing study authors to estimate their total dietary fat intake. Data were collected at the start of the study, 18 months later, and then 3, 5, 7, and 9 years after the start of the study.
Results showed that, cross-sectionally at baseline, neither total fat intake nor the percentage of energy derived from fats was associated with the total volume of the brain’s gray matter or with the volumes of specific lobes of the brain. However, longitudinally over an average of 4.6 years, individuals deriving a higher percentage of their energy from fats tended to show a slower rate of enlargement of the interior lateral ventricle volume. This association was weak, and it disappeared when study authors corrected their detection thresholds for multiple comparisons.
Further analysis showed that the percentage of energy derived from fat was associated with a faster reduction in temporal lobe volume in cognitively unimpaired participants. In contrast, in individuals with mild cognitive impairment, a higher percentage of energy derived from fat was associated with slower enlargement of the inferior lateral ventricle region of the brain.
The temporal lobe is a region of the brain that supports memory and language. The inferior lateral ventricles are spaces filled with fluids near the temporal lobe. Their enlargement reflects the loss of brain tissue in surrounding areas.
“A high-fat diet is associated with accelerated gray matter atrophy, particularly in [Alzheimer’s disease-relevant] regions such as the temporal lobe, in [cognitively unimpaired] adults, but is associated with slower atrophy in individuals with existing [mild cognitive impairment], which is mainly driven by APOE ε4 carriers and/or female individuals,” the study authors concluded.
“Different mechanisms may be involved in the fat–neurodegeneration relationship across cognitive statuses. Halted atrophy associated with a high-fat diet, observed exclusively in individuals with existing [mild cognitive impairment], may reflect the role of fat as part of a compensatory mechanism in response to progressive [Alzheimer’s disease] pathology and metabolic challenges.”
The study contributes to the scientific understanding of the links between diet and mental health. However, it should be noted that the design of this study does not allow any causal inferences to be derived from the results. It is also limited by the fact that the cohort was predominantly white, well-educated, and relatively healthy. Additionally, a single self-reported dietary fat assessment at baseline may not reflect long-term variations in dietary intake.
The paper, “High-fat diet is associated with accelerated gray matter atrophy in cognitively unimpaired older adults but slower atrophy in individuals with existing mild cognitive impairment,” was authored by Lei Fan, Yunyi Sun, Dandan Liu, W. Hudson Robb, Kimberly R. Pechman, Niranjana Shashikumar, Yukti Vyas, Bennett A. Landman, Timothy J. Hohman, and Angela L. Jefferson.
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DATE: July 16, 2026 at 02:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Genetic risk for cannabis use disorder linked to brain differences in youth
URL: https://www.psypost.org/genetic-risk-for-cannabis-use-disorder-linked-to-brain-differences-in-youth/
A person’s genetic risk for developing a cannabis addiction is associated with structural brain differences during adolescence, even in individuals who have never struggled with substance abuse. The finding indicates that some brain variations previously attributed to marijuana use might partly originate from an inherited biological predisposition. The study was published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.
Bipolar disorder is a severe mental health condition characterized by dramatic shifts in mood, energy, and activity levels. People with the condition experience intense emotional states known as mood episodes, which can include periods of extreme elation or irritability, known as mania, and periods of deep sadness, known as depression. The condition often emerges during the teenage years and is a leading cause of functional disability among youth globally.
Teenagers with bipolar disorder frequently face additional psychiatric challenges throughout their schooling and home lives. Research shows that about 30 percent of youth diagnosed with bipolar disorder also have a co-occurring substance use disorder. Cannabis use disorder ranks as the most common addiction in this specific clinical group. Youth with bipolar disorder use cannabis at higher rates than the general population and face an elevated risk of developing a long-term dependency on the drug.
Heavy cannabis use has been repeatedly linked to worse outcomes for individuals with bipolar disorder. These negative impacts include a higher risk of suicide, a delayed recovery process, and an increased likelihood of experiencing psychosis. Past brain imaging studies have also noted structural differences in the brains of teenagers who regularly consume cannabis, both with and without mood disorders. The exact nature of these differences has varied across different observational reports.
Some research points to larger gray matter volume in certain brain regions among users, while other reports document smaller volumes in those same areas. Because most of these studies observe people at a single point in time, it is difficult to determine whether cannabis changes the brain or if people with preexisting brain differences are simply more likely to use the drug. To separate cause from effect in these brain measurements, scientists sometimes examine genetics. Addiction involves inherited physical traits, and modern genetic testing allows researchers to measure a person’s underlying vulnerability to an addiction before it ever develops.
Scientists do this using an advanced mathematical tool called a polygenic risk score. Unlike older tests that look for a single faulty gene, a polygenic risk score tallies up thousands of tiny genetic variations across a person’s entire DNA sequence. By comparing these variations against data from people who have a condition, researchers can calculate a customized score that estimates an individual’s overall genetic likelihood of developing that specific problem. Alysha Sultan, a researcher at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, recognized an opportunity to apply this genetics tool to brain imaging.
Sultan and her colleagues set out to discover if a high polygenic risk score for cannabis use disorder correlated with brain structure in youths, regardless of their developmental history of drug use. The researchers recruited 114 teenagers and young adults between the ages of 13 and 20. The sample included 67 youths who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder at a specialty psychiatric clinic. The remaining 47 participants were healthy controls randomly recruited from the community who had no personal or family history of major psychiatric disorders.
The team asked all participants to provide a saliva sample. From this saliva, the scientists extracted DNA and scanned the genetic sequences to calculate a specific polygenic risk score for cannabis use disorder for every participant. To create the scoring baseline, they relied on data from a preexisting study of adults that mapped the genetic profiles of tens of thousands of people with a diagnosed cannabis dependency.
After collecting the genetic data, the researchers brought the participants in for brain imaging. They used a magnetic resonance imaging machine, commonly known as an MRI, to capture high-resolution pictures of the participants’ brains. The team focused on the cerebral cortex, the folded outer layer of the brain that manages complex thought, memory, and perception.
The researchers measured three specific physical traits of the cerebral cortex: volume, surface area, and thickness. Volume refers to the total amount of space a specific brain region takes up, while surface area measures the expanse of the folded outer layer. Thickness gauges the physical depth of the gray matter on that layer. The scientists wrote statistical models to compare these structural measurements against the participants’ genetic risk scores, accounting for variables like age, sex, and overall head size.
The neuroimaging data revealed a consistent physical pattern. Across the entire group of youths, a higher genetic risk score for cannabis use disorder matched up with localized reductions in brain size. The researchers observed lower total volume and lower surface area in a brain region called the right superior frontal gyrus. Located near the very top and front of the brain, the superior frontal gyrus is involved in higher cognitive functions such as spatial processing and working memory, which is the ability to hold and manipulate information in the mind over short periods.
The researchers also noticed a smaller surface area in a region called the left paracentral lobule. This area rests near the top center of the brain and helps process sensory information from the body. These results were evident regardless of whether the youths had bipolar disorder or whether they had ever tried cannabis. The researchers ran specialized tests that completely excluded the participants who currently or previously had a cannabis use disorder, and the structural differences remained.
When the team split the participants by diagnosis, they found similar patterns among the healthy volunteers. Healthy teenagers with a higher genetic risk for the addiction exhibited lower brain volume and surface area in both the left and the right superior frontal gyrus.
The results among the participants diagnosed with bipolar disorder were not statistically significant when analyzed on their own. The researchers suspect this outcome relates to the vast biological complexities associated with bipolar disorder itself. The youths with the condition had high rates of anxiety and attention difficulties, took various psychiatric medications, and reported different medical histories. These competing factors may alter brain structure in their own localized ways, creating statistical noise in the data that masks the subtler differences linked strictly to the cannabis risk genes.
Sultan and her colleagues pointed out a few constraints to their investigation. Addiction involves similar genetic pathways across different types of substances, meaning people with a genetic liability for cannabis use disorder often share a generalized genetic vulnerability to alcohol or nicotine. The risk scores used in the study might reflect a broader tendency toward behavioral disinhibition rather than a strict vulnerability to cannabis alone. The genetic baselines used in the study also relied on data from individuals of European ancestry, meaning the relationships might differ for people of other ethnic backgrounds.
The initial findings offer a new way to interpret past neuroimaging research. Because a genetic predisposition alone corresponds with smaller frontal brain regions, some of the brain differences previously blamed on teen marijuana use might have existed before the drug use began. The scientists suggest that longer studies following the same teenagers into adulthood could help explain how inherited vulnerabilities shape the growing brain over time.
The study, “Association of polygenic risk for cannabis use disorder with brain structure among youth with and without bipolar disorder,” was authored by Alysha A. Sultan, Clement C. Zai, Kody G. Kennedy, L. Trevor Young, Bradley J. MacIntosh, and Benjamin I. Goldstein.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/genetic-risk-for-cannabis-use-disorder-linked-to-brain-differences-in-youth/
-------------------------------------------------
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-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #CannabisUseDisorder #GeneticRisk #BrainStructure #AdolescentBrain #PolygenicRiskScore #BipolarDisorder #Neuroimaging #FrontalGyrus #CerebralCortex #YouthMentalHealth
-
DATE: July 16, 2026 at 02:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Genetic risk for cannabis use disorder linked to brain differences in youth
URL: https://www.psypost.org/genetic-risk-for-cannabis-use-disorder-linked-to-brain-differences-in-youth/
A person’s genetic risk for developing a cannabis addiction is associated with structural brain differences during adolescence, even in individuals who have never struggled with substance abuse. The finding indicates that some brain variations previously attributed to marijuana use might partly originate from an inherited biological predisposition. The study was published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.
Bipolar disorder is a severe mental health condition characterized by dramatic shifts in mood, energy, and activity levels. People with the condition experience intense emotional states known as mood episodes, which can include periods of extreme elation or irritability, known as mania, and periods of deep sadness, known as depression. The condition often emerges during the teenage years and is a leading cause of functional disability among youth globally.
Teenagers with bipolar disorder frequently face additional psychiatric challenges throughout their schooling and home lives. Research shows that about 30 percent of youth diagnosed with bipolar disorder also have a co-occurring substance use disorder. Cannabis use disorder ranks as the most common addiction in this specific clinical group. Youth with bipolar disorder use cannabis at higher rates than the general population and face an elevated risk of developing a long-term dependency on the drug.
Heavy cannabis use has been repeatedly linked to worse outcomes for individuals with bipolar disorder. These negative impacts include a higher risk of suicide, a delayed recovery process, and an increased likelihood of experiencing psychosis. Past brain imaging studies have also noted structural differences in the brains of teenagers who regularly consume cannabis, both with and without mood disorders. The exact nature of these differences has varied across different observational reports.
Some research points to larger gray matter volume in certain brain regions among users, while other reports document smaller volumes in those same areas. Because most of these studies observe people at a single point in time, it is difficult to determine whether cannabis changes the brain or if people with preexisting brain differences are simply more likely to use the drug. To separate cause from effect in these brain measurements, scientists sometimes examine genetics. Addiction involves inherited physical traits, and modern genetic testing allows researchers to measure a person’s underlying vulnerability to an addiction before it ever develops.
Scientists do this using an advanced mathematical tool called a polygenic risk score. Unlike older tests that look for a single faulty gene, a polygenic risk score tallies up thousands of tiny genetic variations across a person’s entire DNA sequence. By comparing these variations against data from people who have a condition, researchers can calculate a customized score that estimates an individual’s overall genetic likelihood of developing that specific problem. Alysha Sultan, a researcher at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, recognized an opportunity to apply this genetics tool to brain imaging.
Sultan and her colleagues set out to discover if a high polygenic risk score for cannabis use disorder correlated with brain structure in youths, regardless of their developmental history of drug use. The researchers recruited 114 teenagers and young adults between the ages of 13 and 20. The sample included 67 youths who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder at a specialty psychiatric clinic. The remaining 47 participants were healthy controls randomly recruited from the community who had no personal or family history of major psychiatric disorders.
The team asked all participants to provide a saliva sample. From this saliva, the scientists extracted DNA and scanned the genetic sequences to calculate a specific polygenic risk score for cannabis use disorder for every participant. To create the scoring baseline, they relied on data from a preexisting study of adults that mapped the genetic profiles of tens of thousands of people with a diagnosed cannabis dependency.
After collecting the genetic data, the researchers brought the participants in for brain imaging. They used a magnetic resonance imaging machine, commonly known as an MRI, to capture high-resolution pictures of the participants’ brains. The team focused on the cerebral cortex, the folded outer layer of the brain that manages complex thought, memory, and perception.
The researchers measured three specific physical traits of the cerebral cortex: volume, surface area, and thickness. Volume refers to the total amount of space a specific brain region takes up, while surface area measures the expanse of the folded outer layer. Thickness gauges the physical depth of the gray matter on that layer. The scientists wrote statistical models to compare these structural measurements against the participants’ genetic risk scores, accounting for variables like age, sex, and overall head size.
The neuroimaging data revealed a consistent physical pattern. Across the entire group of youths, a higher genetic risk score for cannabis use disorder matched up with localized reductions in brain size. The researchers observed lower total volume and lower surface area in a brain region called the right superior frontal gyrus. Located near the very top and front of the brain, the superior frontal gyrus is involved in higher cognitive functions such as spatial processing and working memory, which is the ability to hold and manipulate information in the mind over short periods.
The researchers also noticed a smaller surface area in a region called the left paracentral lobule. This area rests near the top center of the brain and helps process sensory information from the body. These results were evident regardless of whether the youths had bipolar disorder or whether they had ever tried cannabis. The researchers ran specialized tests that completely excluded the participants who currently or previously had a cannabis use disorder, and the structural differences remained.
When the team split the participants by diagnosis, they found similar patterns among the healthy volunteers. Healthy teenagers with a higher genetic risk for the addiction exhibited lower brain volume and surface area in both the left and the right superior frontal gyrus.
The results among the participants diagnosed with bipolar disorder were not statistically significant when analyzed on their own. The researchers suspect this outcome relates to the vast biological complexities associated with bipolar disorder itself. The youths with the condition had high rates of anxiety and attention difficulties, took various psychiatric medications, and reported different medical histories. These competing factors may alter brain structure in their own localized ways, creating statistical noise in the data that masks the subtler differences linked strictly to the cannabis risk genes.
Sultan and her colleagues pointed out a few constraints to their investigation. Addiction involves similar genetic pathways across different types of substances, meaning people with a genetic liability for cannabis use disorder often share a generalized genetic vulnerability to alcohol or nicotine. The risk scores used in the study might reflect a broader tendency toward behavioral disinhibition rather than a strict vulnerability to cannabis alone. The genetic baselines used in the study also relied on data from individuals of European ancestry, meaning the relationships might differ for people of other ethnic backgrounds.
The initial findings offer a new way to interpret past neuroimaging research. Because a genetic predisposition alone corresponds with smaller frontal brain regions, some of the brain differences previously blamed on teen marijuana use might have existed before the drug use began. The scientists suggest that longer studies following the same teenagers into adulthood could help explain how inherited vulnerabilities shape the growing brain over time.
The study, “Association of polygenic risk for cannabis use disorder with brain structure among youth with and without bipolar disorder,” was authored by Alysha A. Sultan, Clement C. Zai, Kody G. Kennedy, L. Trevor Young, Bradley J. MacIntosh, and Benjamin I. Goldstein.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/genetic-risk-for-cannabis-use-disorder-linked-to-brain-differences-in-youth/
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
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-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #CannabisUseDisorder #GeneticRisk #BrainStructure #AdolescentBrain #PolygenicRiskScore #BipolarDisorder #Neuroimaging #FrontalGyrus #CerebralCortex #YouthMentalHealth
-
DATE: July 13, 2026 at 06:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: How LSD reshapes brain circuitry to blur the lines between perception and thought
A recent small study analyzes how the psychedelic drug LSD reshapes brain activity. The research shows that the substance boosts widespread neural synchronization while blurring the boundaries between sensory perception and abstract thought. Through computer modeling and brain scans, researchers found that LSD alters the balance of excitement and inhibition in specific brain circuits, potentially pulling the mind out of entrenched patterns. The findings were published in PLOS Computational Biology.
Psychedelics are seeing a resurgence in psychiatric research. Clinical trials suggest these substances hold potential for assisting in the treatment of conditions like depression, anxiety, and addiction. Mental health disorders often involve rigid, stubborn patterns of thinking. Psychedelic compounds seem to induce the opposite effect, introducing temporary flexibility to brain activity.
To understand how a drug can drastically alter human consciousness, scientists look at how different networks function in the brain. Even when a person is resting, regions of the brain constantly communicate. Distinct networks process everything from simple sensory inputs, like touch and sight, to abstract cognitive tasks, like self-reflection and attention.
Healthy brain function relies on a delicate seesaw effect known as the excitatory and inhibitory balance. Excitatory neurons act like a biological accelerator, sending electrical signals that encourage other neurons to fire. Inhibitory neurons act like the brakes, preventing overactivity and keeping the system organized.
Lingyu Zhang, a researcher at the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, alongside colleagues across several other institutions, wanted to map how this balance changes under the influence of LSD. Measuring the exact chemical equilibrium directly in a living human brain is incredibly difficult with current noninvasive technology. To get around this limitation, the research team turned to computational modeling coupled with neuroimaging data.
The researchers utilized an existing data set from a small study of 15 healthy adults. During the original experiment, participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging. This type of brain scan measures changes in blood flow over time, allowing researchers to detect which areas of the brain are highly active. Each person received two scans on separate days, one occurring after an injection of a placebo, and the other occurring after an intravenous dose of LSD.
Zhang and the research team took this scanning data and looked for patterns of synchronization. They wanted to see if the rhythmic waves of activity in different brain regions peaked and dipped at the exact same moment. Phase synchronization occurs when multiple regions align their rhythms. The researchers grouped these synchronized moments together to categorize distinct brain states.
Under the placebo condition, the brain hopped smoothly between various modular states. Some of these states were dedicated purely to processing sensory information. Other states were tied strictly to the default mode network, which is a group of associative brain regions dealing with mind wandering, memories, and an individual’s sense of self.
When participants took LSD, their brain dynamics shifted in a profound manner. The researchers found that LSD enhanced global brain synchrony. Instead of operating in segregated, independent networks, the entire brain was much more likely to fire together in a unified state.
This highly synchronized global state seemed to act like a magnet, drawing the brain away from its compartmentalized routines. The probability of the brain transitioning from this unified state back into specialized cognitive control networks was markedly reduced. Due to the limited sample size, some minute differences in transition probabilities between minor states were not statistically significant. However, the overarching trend toward increased global synchrony remained visible.
To understand the hidden machinery behind this shift, the researchers built a dynamic computer simulation. They combined the brain scan data with detailed maps of structural connections in the human brain. This allowed the team to calculate the estimated ratio of excitation to inhibition in tiny neural circuits across the entire cerebral cortex.
The computer model revealed that LSD alters the brain’s internal chemical balance, doing so unevenly. The drug affects regions responsible for basic sensory perception quite differently than it affects regions responsible for abstract thought.
In areas of the brain related to sensory and motor processing, the model showed a sharp drop in the excitatory-to-inhibitory ratio. The biological brakes became much stronger in these regions. This chemical shift suppresses how tenaciously the brain anchors itself to external sensory inputs.
Conversely, the model estimated that the activation ratio increased in associative brain regions. Taking off the brakes in these abstract processing centers could make neurons uncharacteristically active. The researchers suggest this neural remodeling fosters cognitive flexibility, allowing participants to experience intense introspection.
By turning down sensory areas and dialing up abstract areas, LSD essentially levels the playing field between the two. The strict boundaries that usually separate concrete perception from abstract cognition begin to dissolve. This physiological mechanism aligns closely with the subjective experiences often reported by users of psychedelics, such as a dissolving sense of self and an altered perception of the world.
The team also discovered that the sensory and motor cortices might serve as primary drivers for these brain-wide changes. The suppression of these early sensory pathways appears to cascade upward. This disruption travels up the hierarchy of the brain, scattering the higher-order networks that typically impose order on human cognition.
Psychedelics are known to bind to a specific type of serotonin receptor in the brain, known as the 5-HT2A receptor. This receptor triggers chemical chain reactions that can alter the release of glutamate, which serves as the brain’s primary excitatory neurotransmitter. The researchers noted that their computer model’s map of altered excitement and inhibition closely overlapped with known anatomical maps of serotonin and glutamate receptors.
This theoretical overlap hints at the biological mechanism at play. The LSD binds to serotonin receptors, which in turn manipulate the excitatory neurotransmitters at localized points in the sensory cortex. The ripple effect ultimately changes the entire brain’s operational rhythm, forcing it out of rigid habits.
The authors pointed out several limitations to their analysis that warrant caution. Because this original data set came from a small study, larger clinical trials will be necessary to confirm the results. Expanding the participant pool would help ensure the findings apply reliably to the broader population.
The research focused exclusively on the cerebral cortex, which is the brain’s wrinkled outer layer. The computational models did not include deeper subcortical structures like the thalamus. The thalamus acts as a major relay station for sensory information. Previous research suggests this region plays a vital role in how hallucinogens affect the mind, meaning future studies will need to incorporate it to provide a complete picture.
The study also did not match the brain scanning data with subjective psychological questionnaires from the participants. The researchers noted that future investigations should explore how these measured changes in brain connectivity correlate with a person’s specific emotional or perceptual experiences. Learning exactly how the loss of sensory anchoring matches an individual’s reported hallucinations would bring science one step closer to practical therapeutic applications.
The study, “Lysergic acid diethylamide-derived excitatory/inhibitory ratio change enhances global synchrony in functional brain dynamics,” was authored by Lingyu Zhang, Weiyang Shi, Ziyang Zhao, Zhichao Wang, Congying Chu, Bokai Zhao, Jiaqi Zhang, Qianhui Liu, Yueheng Lan, and Tianzi Jiang.
-------------------------------------------------
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #LSD #psychedelics #brainnetworks #neuroscience #global synchrony #excitatoryinhibitorybalance #5HT2A #neuroimaging #cognition #perceptionandthought
-
DATE: July 13, 2026 at 06:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: How LSD reshapes brain circuitry to blur the lines between perception and thought
A recent small study analyzes how the psychedelic drug LSD reshapes brain activity. The research shows that the substance boosts widespread neural synchronization while blurring the boundaries between sensory perception and abstract thought. Through computer modeling and brain scans, researchers found that LSD alters the balance of excitement and inhibition in specific brain circuits, potentially pulling the mind out of entrenched patterns. The findings were published in PLOS Computational Biology.
Psychedelics are seeing a resurgence in psychiatric research. Clinical trials suggest these substances hold potential for assisting in the treatment of conditions like depression, anxiety, and addiction. Mental health disorders often involve rigid, stubborn patterns of thinking. Psychedelic compounds seem to induce the opposite effect, introducing temporary flexibility to brain activity.
To understand how a drug can drastically alter human consciousness, scientists look at how different networks function in the brain. Even when a person is resting, regions of the brain constantly communicate. Distinct networks process everything from simple sensory inputs, like touch and sight, to abstract cognitive tasks, like self-reflection and attention.
Healthy brain function relies on a delicate seesaw effect known as the excitatory and inhibitory balance. Excitatory neurons act like a biological accelerator, sending electrical signals that encourage other neurons to fire. Inhibitory neurons act like the brakes, preventing overactivity and keeping the system organized.
Lingyu Zhang, a researcher at the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, alongside colleagues across several other institutions, wanted to map how this balance changes under the influence of LSD. Measuring the exact chemical equilibrium directly in a living human brain is incredibly difficult with current noninvasive technology. To get around this limitation, the research team turned to computational modeling coupled with neuroimaging data.
The researchers utilized an existing data set from a small study of 15 healthy adults. During the original experiment, participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging. This type of brain scan measures changes in blood flow over time, allowing researchers to detect which areas of the brain are highly active. Each person received two scans on separate days, one occurring after an injection of a placebo, and the other occurring after an intravenous dose of LSD.
Zhang and the research team took this scanning data and looked for patterns of synchronization. They wanted to see if the rhythmic waves of activity in different brain regions peaked and dipped at the exact same moment. Phase synchronization occurs when multiple regions align their rhythms. The researchers grouped these synchronized moments together to categorize distinct brain states.
Under the placebo condition, the brain hopped smoothly between various modular states. Some of these states were dedicated purely to processing sensory information. Other states were tied strictly to the default mode network, which is a group of associative brain regions dealing with mind wandering, memories, and an individual’s sense of self.
When participants took LSD, their brain dynamics shifted in a profound manner. The researchers found that LSD enhanced global brain synchrony. Instead of operating in segregated, independent networks, the entire brain was much more likely to fire together in a unified state.
This highly synchronized global state seemed to act like a magnet, drawing the brain away from its compartmentalized routines. The probability of the brain transitioning from this unified state back into specialized cognitive control networks was markedly reduced. Due to the limited sample size, some minute differences in transition probabilities between minor states were not statistically significant. However, the overarching trend toward increased global synchrony remained visible.
To understand the hidden machinery behind this shift, the researchers built a dynamic computer simulation. They combined the brain scan data with detailed maps of structural connections in the human brain. This allowed the team to calculate the estimated ratio of excitation to inhibition in tiny neural circuits across the entire cerebral cortex.
The computer model revealed that LSD alters the brain’s internal chemical balance, doing so unevenly. The drug affects regions responsible for basic sensory perception quite differently than it affects regions responsible for abstract thought.
In areas of the brain related to sensory and motor processing, the model showed a sharp drop in the excitatory-to-inhibitory ratio. The biological brakes became much stronger in these regions. This chemical shift suppresses how tenaciously the brain anchors itself to external sensory inputs.
Conversely, the model estimated that the activation ratio increased in associative brain regions. Taking off the brakes in these abstract processing centers could make neurons uncharacteristically active. The researchers suggest this neural remodeling fosters cognitive flexibility, allowing participants to experience intense introspection.
By turning down sensory areas and dialing up abstract areas, LSD essentially levels the playing field between the two. The strict boundaries that usually separate concrete perception from abstract cognition begin to dissolve. This physiological mechanism aligns closely with the subjective experiences often reported by users of psychedelics, such as a dissolving sense of self and an altered perception of the world.
The team also discovered that the sensory and motor cortices might serve as primary drivers for these brain-wide changes. The suppression of these early sensory pathways appears to cascade upward. This disruption travels up the hierarchy of the brain, scattering the higher-order networks that typically impose order on human cognition.
Psychedelics are known to bind to a specific type of serotonin receptor in the brain, known as the 5-HT2A receptor. This receptor triggers chemical chain reactions that can alter the release of glutamate, which serves as the brain’s primary excitatory neurotransmitter. The researchers noted that their computer model’s map of altered excitement and inhibition closely overlapped with known anatomical maps of serotonin and glutamate receptors.
This theoretical overlap hints at the biological mechanism at play. The LSD binds to serotonin receptors, which in turn manipulate the excitatory neurotransmitters at localized points in the sensory cortex. The ripple effect ultimately changes the entire brain’s operational rhythm, forcing it out of rigid habits.
The authors pointed out several limitations to their analysis that warrant caution. Because this original data set came from a small study, larger clinical trials will be necessary to confirm the results. Expanding the participant pool would help ensure the findings apply reliably to the broader population.
The research focused exclusively on the cerebral cortex, which is the brain’s wrinkled outer layer. The computational models did not include deeper subcortical structures like the thalamus. The thalamus acts as a major relay station for sensory information. Previous research suggests this region plays a vital role in how hallucinogens affect the mind, meaning future studies will need to incorporate it to provide a complete picture.
The study also did not match the brain scanning data with subjective psychological questionnaires from the participants. The researchers noted that future investigations should explore how these measured changes in brain connectivity correlate with a person’s specific emotional or perceptual experiences. Learning exactly how the loss of sensory anchoring matches an individual’s reported hallucinations would bring science one step closer to practical therapeutic applications.
The study, “Lysergic acid diethylamide-derived excitatory/inhibitory ratio change enhances global synchrony in functional brain dynamics,” was authored by Lingyu Zhang, Weiyang Shi, Ziyang Zhao, Zhichao Wang, Congying Chu, Bokai Zhao, Jiaqi Zhang, Qianhui Liu, Yueheng Lan, and Tianzi Jiang.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #LSD #psychedelics #brainnetworks #neuroscience #global synchrony #excitatoryinhibitorybalance #5HT2A #neuroimaging #cognition #perceptionandthought
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On the Emergence of Neuroforecasting
Knowledge in the neurosciences, theory and methodology, is increasingly applied to improve and deepen our understanding of consumer decision processes, affect and cognition, and behaviours, in a young field known as consumer neuroscience; practical implementation of this knowledge on consumers in marketing management is known as neuromarketing. Relevant specialisitations in the neurosciences include neuropsychology, neuroeconomics, and neurobiology. The research has largely focused on […]https://consumergateway.org/2026/07/13/on-the-emergence-of-neuroforecasting/
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On the Emergence of Neuroforecasting
Knowledge in the neurosciences, theory and methodology, is increasingly applied to improve and deepen our understanding of consumer decision processes, affect and cognition, and behaviours, in a young field known as consumer neuroscience; practical implementation of this knowledge on consumers in marketing management is known as neuromarketing. Relevant specialisitations in the neurosciences include neuropsychology, neuroeconomics, and neurobiology. The research has largely focused on […]https://consumergateway.org/2026/07/13/on-the-emergence-of-neuroforecasting/
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NeuroVFM trains a medical AI on 5 million uncurated brain scans without human labels
https://1ban.news/neurovfm-neuroimaging-foundation-model-vol-jepa/
#1ban #neurovfm #neuroimaging #foundation #model #tech -
DATE: July 10, 2026 at 02:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Neuroimaging study of 30,000 adults links the size of six brain areas to stronger working memory
A recent study published in the journal Neuropsychology suggests that having more physical tissue volume in six specific areas of the brain predicts better working memory in middle-aged and older adults. These findings provide evidence that preserving brain structure as we age supports our ability to temporarily hold and manipulate information. This knowledge could eventually guide new strategies to help slow cognitive decline in aging populations.
Working memory is the mental workspace that allows people to temporarily store and process information. People rely on this cognitive skill for everyday tasks like making decisions, learning new things, reading comprehension, and mental math. However, this mental capacity tends to decline as people reach their later years.
“Working memory is a fundamental cognitive function that we rely on every day, from following conversations, to planning tasks, and making decisions,” said study author Sarah Ellen Carnemolla, a postgraduate psychology student at Charles Sturt University.
In healthy aging, physical changes in the brain often happen before people notice any outward memory problems. Finding a link between the physical size of specific brain areas and memory performance might help experts identify who is most at risk for cognitive decline. This could also provide targets for therapies designed to protect the aging brain.
“We wanted to explore the topic of working memory in aging to deepen our understanding of the brain regions that support this crucial cognitive function, given that it naturally declines with age,” Carnemolla said. “Understanding the neurological basis of working memory is becoming more important with globally aging populations and increasingly common neurological and psychiatric conditions that affect working memory, such as ADHD and dementia.” By identifying the brain structures involved, the authors hope to contribute to future research aimed at improving quality of life for people experiencing memory impairments.
To measure working memory, experts often use a digit span task. In this traditional test, a person receives a sequence of numbers and must repeat them back. The backward version of this test requires the person to mentally reverse the order of the numbers. This demands extra mental effort and engages active manipulation skills.
Psychologists generally think of working memory as having a few separate parts. One part handles visual and spatial information, acting like a mental sketchpad. Another part handles verbal and auditory information, acting like a mental recording loop. An overarching executive system controls attention and coordinates these two storage areas to manage goal-directed behavior.
Past studies looking at the brain anatomy behind these skills have often relied on very small groups of people or individuals with severe brain injuries. Many previous projects also failed to account for outside factors that affect brain size, like a person’s age, biological sex, years of education, and overall head size. To address these gaps, authors wanted to test these relationships in a massive, healthy population using advanced brain scans.
To conduct the research, scientists analyzed data from the UK Biobank, which is a massive health database in the United Kingdom. The final sample included exactly 30,640 healthy adults between the ages of 51 and 80. Each participant completed a computerized memory assessment called the Numeric Memory Test.
During this visual test, a sequence of numbers appeared on a screen and then vanished after three seconds. Participants then had to type the numbers in reverse order using a digital keypad. The sequences became longer and more difficult as the test progressed, up to a maximum of 12 digits. The test ended when a person made too many consecutive mistakes.
Alongside the memory test, every participant underwent a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of their brain. This imaging technology uses strong magnets and radio waves to take detailed pictures of the body’s internal structures. The scientists used these images to measure the physical volume of 25 specific brain regions that previous literature linked to memory tasks.
Before running their statistical models, the scientists used specialized software to map out the different tissues in the brain. They separated the images into gray matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid. This allowed them to isolate and measure the exact volume of the targeted areas with high precision.
The research team then used math to see if the sizes of these brain regions could predict how well someone performed on the memory test. They adjusted their equations to account for each person’s age, biological sex, years of education, and total intracranial volume. Intracranial volume simply refers to the total size of a person’s head and brain cavity.
The authors found that people with larger volumes in six specific brain areas tended to score higher on the memory test. One of these areas was the cerebellum, a region at the back of the brain traditionally known for coordinating movement. In this context, it likely helps people silently repeat the numbers to themselves, a strategy known as inner speech.
Another predictive region was the hippocampus, a seahorse-shaped structure deep in the brain. The hippocampus is famously linked to long-term memory formation, but this study suggests it also helps encode short-term visual information.
The other predictive areas included the superior temporal cortex and the insula, located on the sides of the brain. These regions typically help process sounds and manage attention. The insula in particular might help people switch their focus and ignore distractions while trying to remember the number sequence.
The left inferior parietal cortex and the left lateral occipital cortex also showed strong links to better test scores. These outer layers of the brain help people process visual and spatial information. Having more tissue in these regions likely assists in mentally picturing and rearranging the numbers like items on a mental chalkboard. “Our findings suggest that a network of brain regions plays an important role in supporting working memory throughout middle-age and older adulthood, and that the integrity of these brain structures matters for cognitive performance,” Carnemolla said.
However, the results also contained unexpected findings. When the statistical models accounted for all variables at once, three specific brain areas seemed to show a negative relationship with memory performance.
“Some brain regions showed associations with working memory performance that were in the opposite direction to what we expected (that is, for some regions, smaller size was associated with better performance),” Carnemolla told PsyPost. “We think this reflects the brain’s highly interconnected nature, where the influence of one region can be affected by its relationships with neighboring regions, making these patterns more complex than they first appear.”
Beyond brain anatomy, the study provides evidence that demographic factors heavily influence numeric memory. Older participants tended to remember fewer numbers than younger participants. At the same time, people with more years of formal education generally performed much better on the task than those with fewer years of schooling. “Our study also highlights the potential protective role of higher education in maintaining working memory as we age,” Carnemolla noted.
Interestingly, the researchers found no noticeable differences in performance between men and women. The overall size of a person’s head also did not predict how many numbers they could remember.
As a secondary goal, the researchers used this massive dataset to create benchmark scoring tables for the Numeric Memory Test. These tables group people by age, sex, and education level. Doctors can now use these charts to compare a new patient’s score against healthy peers, which makes it easier to spot abnormal memory problems.
The findings offer a detailed look at the aging brain, but the study does have some limitations. Because the data was collected at a single point in time, the researchers cannot prove that shrinking brain regions actually cause memory loss. It is only possible to say that brain volume and memory performance are related.
Additionally, the participant pool was not entirely representative of the general population. “Our study used data from the UK Biobank, whose participants tend to be more highly educated, of higher socioeconomic status, and predominantly of White ethnic backgrounds than the general population,” Carnemolla said. “This means the findings may not fully generalize to more diverse populations, highlighting the need for future research in broader and more representative groups.”
The visual format of the computerized test also allows people to simply read the numbers from right to left in their heads. This visual strategy might change how the brain tackles the problem compared to hearing numbers spoken aloud.
Future research should follow the same participants over many years to track how gradual brain shrinkage affects memory over time. The authors also suggest using a combination of different brain imaging techniques to build a more complete picture of how these regions communicate.
“As this was an Honors research project, my involvement with the study has now concluded,” Carnemolla said. “However, this work provides a foundation for future research into the brain networks that support working memory, including the potential for investigating how these findings might inform strategies to maintain or improve cognitive function across the lifespan.”
These future studies could help guide efforts to develop interventions that support or improve working memory. These strategies would take advantage of the brain’s natural capacity for change, a concept known as neuroplasticity. “Overall, the study reminds us that the health of our brain underpins many everyday abilities we often take for granted, and that understanding these relationships is an important step toward supporting cognitive health across the lifespan,” Carnemolla said.
To conclude, she offered gratitude to those who made the large-scale analysis possible. “We would like to sincerely thank the thousands of volunteers who generously contributed their time and data to the UK Biobank to advance our understanding of brain health and cognitive aging,” Carnemolla said.
The study, “Integrity in Six Key Brain Regions Predicts Numeric Working Memory Performance in 30,000 Middle-Aged and Older Adults: A UK Biobank Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study,” was authored by Sarah Ellen Carnemolla, Tanmoy Debnath, Md Geaur Rahman, and Minh Chau.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #WorkingMemory #BrainHealth #AgingBrain #NeuroImaging #CognitiveAging #Hippocampus #Cerebellum #BrainVolume #UKBiobank #Neuroscience
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DATE: July 10, 2026 at 02:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Neuroimaging study of 30,000 adults links the size of six brain areas to stronger working memory
A recent study published in the journal Neuropsychology suggests that having more physical tissue volume in six specific areas of the brain predicts better working memory in middle-aged and older adults. These findings provide evidence that preserving brain structure as we age supports our ability to temporarily hold and manipulate information. This knowledge could eventually guide new strategies to help slow cognitive decline in aging populations.
Working memory is the mental workspace that allows people to temporarily store and process information. People rely on this cognitive skill for everyday tasks like making decisions, learning new things, reading comprehension, and mental math. However, this mental capacity tends to decline as people reach their later years.
“Working memory is a fundamental cognitive function that we rely on every day, from following conversations, to planning tasks, and making decisions,” said study author Sarah Ellen Carnemolla, a postgraduate psychology student at Charles Sturt University.
In healthy aging, physical changes in the brain often happen before people notice any outward memory problems. Finding a link between the physical size of specific brain areas and memory performance might help experts identify who is most at risk for cognitive decline. This could also provide targets for therapies designed to protect the aging brain.
“We wanted to explore the topic of working memory in aging to deepen our understanding of the brain regions that support this crucial cognitive function, given that it naturally declines with age,” Carnemolla said. “Understanding the neurological basis of working memory is becoming more important with globally aging populations and increasingly common neurological and psychiatric conditions that affect working memory, such as ADHD and dementia.” By identifying the brain structures involved, the authors hope to contribute to future research aimed at improving quality of life for people experiencing memory impairments.
To measure working memory, experts often use a digit span task. In this traditional test, a person receives a sequence of numbers and must repeat them back. The backward version of this test requires the person to mentally reverse the order of the numbers. This demands extra mental effort and engages active manipulation skills.
Psychologists generally think of working memory as having a few separate parts. One part handles visual and spatial information, acting like a mental sketchpad. Another part handles verbal and auditory information, acting like a mental recording loop. An overarching executive system controls attention and coordinates these two storage areas to manage goal-directed behavior.
Past studies looking at the brain anatomy behind these skills have often relied on very small groups of people or individuals with severe brain injuries. Many previous projects also failed to account for outside factors that affect brain size, like a person’s age, biological sex, years of education, and overall head size. To address these gaps, authors wanted to test these relationships in a massive, healthy population using advanced brain scans.
To conduct the research, scientists analyzed data from the UK Biobank, which is a massive health database in the United Kingdom. The final sample included exactly 30,640 healthy adults between the ages of 51 and 80. Each participant completed a computerized memory assessment called the Numeric Memory Test.
During this visual test, a sequence of numbers appeared on a screen and then vanished after three seconds. Participants then had to type the numbers in reverse order using a digital keypad. The sequences became longer and more difficult as the test progressed, up to a maximum of 12 digits. The test ended when a person made too many consecutive mistakes.
Alongside the memory test, every participant underwent a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of their brain. This imaging technology uses strong magnets and radio waves to take detailed pictures of the body’s internal structures. The scientists used these images to measure the physical volume of 25 specific brain regions that previous literature linked to memory tasks.
Before running their statistical models, the scientists used specialized software to map out the different tissues in the brain. They separated the images into gray matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid. This allowed them to isolate and measure the exact volume of the targeted areas with high precision.
The research team then used math to see if the sizes of these brain regions could predict how well someone performed on the memory test. They adjusted their equations to account for each person’s age, biological sex, years of education, and total intracranial volume. Intracranial volume simply refers to the total size of a person’s head and brain cavity.
The authors found that people with larger volumes in six specific brain areas tended to score higher on the memory test. One of these areas was the cerebellum, a region at the back of the brain traditionally known for coordinating movement. In this context, it likely helps people silently repeat the numbers to themselves, a strategy known as inner speech.
Another predictive region was the hippocampus, a seahorse-shaped structure deep in the brain. The hippocampus is famously linked to long-term memory formation, but this study suggests it also helps encode short-term visual information.
The other predictive areas included the superior temporal cortex and the insula, located on the sides of the brain. These regions typically help process sounds and manage attention. The insula in particular might help people switch their focus and ignore distractions while trying to remember the number sequence.
The left inferior parietal cortex and the left lateral occipital cortex also showed strong links to better test scores. These outer layers of the brain help people process visual and spatial information. Having more tissue in these regions likely assists in mentally picturing and rearranging the numbers like items on a mental chalkboard. “Our findings suggest that a network of brain regions plays an important role in supporting working memory throughout middle-age and older adulthood, and that the integrity of these brain structures matters for cognitive performance,” Carnemolla said.
However, the results also contained unexpected findings. When the statistical models accounted for all variables at once, three specific brain areas seemed to show a negative relationship with memory performance.
“Some brain regions showed associations with working memory performance that were in the opposite direction to what we expected (that is, for some regions, smaller size was associated with better performance),” Carnemolla told PsyPost. “We think this reflects the brain’s highly interconnected nature, where the influence of one region can be affected by its relationships with neighboring regions, making these patterns more complex than they first appear.”
Beyond brain anatomy, the study provides evidence that demographic factors heavily influence numeric memory. Older participants tended to remember fewer numbers than younger participants. At the same time, people with more years of formal education generally performed much better on the task than those with fewer years of schooling. “Our study also highlights the potential protective role of higher education in maintaining working memory as we age,” Carnemolla noted.
Interestingly, the researchers found no noticeable differences in performance between men and women. The overall size of a person’s head also did not predict how many numbers they could remember.
As a secondary goal, the researchers used this massive dataset to create benchmark scoring tables for the Numeric Memory Test. These tables group people by age, sex, and education level. Doctors can now use these charts to compare a new patient’s score against healthy peers, which makes it easier to spot abnormal memory problems.
The findings offer a detailed look at the aging brain, but the study does have some limitations. Because the data was collected at a single point in time, the researchers cannot prove that shrinking brain regions actually cause memory loss. It is only possible to say that brain volume and memory performance are related.
Additionally, the participant pool was not entirely representative of the general population. “Our study used data from the UK Biobank, whose participants tend to be more highly educated, of higher socioeconomic status, and predominantly of White ethnic backgrounds than the general population,” Carnemolla said. “This means the findings may not fully generalize to more diverse populations, highlighting the need for future research in broader and more representative groups.”
The visual format of the computerized test also allows people to simply read the numbers from right to left in their heads. This visual strategy might change how the brain tackles the problem compared to hearing numbers spoken aloud.
Future research should follow the same participants over many years to track how gradual brain shrinkage affects memory over time. The authors also suggest using a combination of different brain imaging techniques to build a more complete picture of how these regions communicate.
“As this was an Honors research project, my involvement with the study has now concluded,” Carnemolla said. “However, this work provides a foundation for future research into the brain networks that support working memory, including the potential for investigating how these findings might inform strategies to maintain or improve cognitive function across the lifespan.”
These future studies could help guide efforts to develop interventions that support or improve working memory. These strategies would take advantage of the brain’s natural capacity for change, a concept known as neuroplasticity. “Overall, the study reminds us that the health of our brain underpins many everyday abilities we often take for granted, and that understanding these relationships is an important step toward supporting cognitive health across the lifespan,” Carnemolla said.
To conclude, she offered gratitude to those who made the large-scale analysis possible. “We would like to sincerely thank the thousands of volunteers who generously contributed their time and data to the UK Biobank to advance our understanding of brain health and cognitive aging,” Carnemolla said.
The study, “Integrity in Six Key Brain Regions Predicts Numeric Working Memory Performance in 30,000 Middle-Aged and Older Adults: A UK Biobank Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study,” was authored by Sarah Ellen Carnemolla, Tanmoy Debnath, Md Geaur Rahman, and Minh Chau.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #WorkingMemory #BrainHealth #AgingBrain #NeuroImaging #CognitiveAging #Hippocampus #Cerebellum #BrainVolume #UKBiobank #Neuroscience
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A neuroimaging study revealed that a small subpopulation of individuals with schizophrenia who have a history of severe physical violence display heightened brain activity when anticipating punishment, rather than when receiving a reward or an actual punishment.
#Neuroscience #Psychiatry #Neuroimaging #Schizophrenia #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/07/ns07062601.html -
A neuroimaging study revealed that a small subpopulation of individuals with schizophrenia who have a history of severe physical violence display heightened brain activity when anticipating punishment, rather than when receiving a reward or an actual punishment.
#Neuroscience #Psychiatry #Neuroimaging #Schizophrenia #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/07/ns07062601.html -
Neuroimaging-derived biotypes of self-reported insomnia symptoms are differentially associated with affective symptoms
https://1ban.news/neuroimaging-biotypes-insomnia-affective-risk/
#1ban #neuroimaging #biotypes #insomnia #affective #sleep -
ggseg now draws brains without sf.
It installs without needing compiled GDAL, GEOS, or PROJ — so it runs on locked-down laptops, HPC clusters, and in the browser (webR/shinylive). Same geom_brain(), identical figures.
How & why 👉
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ggseg now draws brains without sf.
It installs without needing compiled GDAL, GEOS, or PROJ — so it runs on locked-down laptops, HPC clusters, and in the browser (webR/shinylive). Same geom_brain(), identical figures.
How & why 👉
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DATE: June 30, 2026 at 04:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Brain network patterns in childhood linked to early alcohol use
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-network-patterns-in-childhood-linked-to-early-alcohol-use/
Children who go on to start drinking alcohol before age 15 may already show distinctive patterns of brain organization years earlier, according to research published in Translational Psychiatry. The findings suggest that certain brain network features could act as early markers of vulnerability to adolescent alcohol use.
Beginning alcohol use at a young age has long been associated with an increased risk of later alcohol problems, as well as mental health difficulties and other negative outcomes. Scientists have previously identified differences in brain structure among adolescents who drink alcohol, but most studies have focused on specific brain regions. Increasingly, researchers view the brain as an interconnected network, raising the question of whether whole-brain organization might reveal risks that individual regions cannot.
The researchers wanted to determine whether brain differences existed before alcohol use began. If such differences could be identified, they might help explain why some young people are more likely than others to start drinking early.
Led by Hollie Byrne from the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use at the University of Sydney, the team analyzed data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. The researchers examined MRI scans collected when participants were 9 to 10 years old and compared youth who later consumed a full alcoholic drink before age 15 with those who did not. The primary analysis used matched groups of 160 early initiators and 160 non-initiators.
The study found little evidence that future drinkers differed from their peers in specific brain regions. Once the researchers accounted for the large number of statistical tests being conducted, no individual areas of the brain reliably distinguished children who would later begin drinking from those who would not.
However, a different picture emerged when the team examined the brain as a network. Children who later initiated alcohol use showed lower network segregation, meaning that groups of neighboring brain regions appeared less specialized. They also showed higher network integration and efficiency, indicating stronger but atypical communication across distant regions of the brain.
“Patterns of lower segregation and higher integration are consistent with a neuroanatomical profile suggestive of disrupted or atypical cortical maturation,” Byrne and colleagues noted.
They also found that future drinkers reported higher levels of sensation seeking, a personality characteristic linked to risk-taking behavior. Otherwise, the groups were largely similar on psychological, behavioral, and cognitive measures.
Byrne’s team concluded: “These findings suggest that cortical thickness network topology at ages 9–10 may serve as a neuroanatomical risk marker for early adolescent alcohol initiation.”
The researchers caution that the study has some limitations. The number of young people who began drinking early was relatively small, which may have reduced the stability of some findings. In addition, demographic matching cannot fully account for cultural, social, and environmental influences that may shape both brain development and alcohol use.
The study, “Brain network features predating early alcohol initiation in adolescence,” was authored by Hollie Byrne, Ryan Visontay, Erin K. Devine, Natasha E. Wade, Joanna Jacobus, Lindsay M. Squeglia, and Lexine Mewton.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-network-patterns-in-childhood-linked-to-early-alcohol-use/
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #BrainNetworks #AdolescentAlcoholUse #EarlyInitiation #Neurodevelopment #ABCDStudy #CorticalMaturation #NetworkTopology #SensationSeeking #Neuroimaging #TranslationalPsychiatry
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DATE: June 30, 2026 at 04:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Brain network patterns in childhood linked to early alcohol use
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-network-patterns-in-childhood-linked-to-early-alcohol-use/
Children who go on to start drinking alcohol before age 15 may already show distinctive patterns of brain organization years earlier, according to research published in Translational Psychiatry. The findings suggest that certain brain network features could act as early markers of vulnerability to adolescent alcohol use.
Beginning alcohol use at a young age has long been associated with an increased risk of later alcohol problems, as well as mental health difficulties and other negative outcomes. Scientists have previously identified differences in brain structure among adolescents who drink alcohol, but most studies have focused on specific brain regions. Increasingly, researchers view the brain as an interconnected network, raising the question of whether whole-brain organization might reveal risks that individual regions cannot.
The researchers wanted to determine whether brain differences existed before alcohol use began. If such differences could be identified, they might help explain why some young people are more likely than others to start drinking early.
Led by Hollie Byrne from the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use at the University of Sydney, the team analyzed data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. The researchers examined MRI scans collected when participants were 9 to 10 years old and compared youth who later consumed a full alcoholic drink before age 15 with those who did not. The primary analysis used matched groups of 160 early initiators and 160 non-initiators.
The study found little evidence that future drinkers differed from their peers in specific brain regions. Once the researchers accounted for the large number of statistical tests being conducted, no individual areas of the brain reliably distinguished children who would later begin drinking from those who would not.
However, a different picture emerged when the team examined the brain as a network. Children who later initiated alcohol use showed lower network segregation, meaning that groups of neighboring brain regions appeared less specialized. They also showed higher network integration and efficiency, indicating stronger but atypical communication across distant regions of the brain.
“Patterns of lower segregation and higher integration are consistent with a neuroanatomical profile suggestive of disrupted or atypical cortical maturation,” Byrne and colleagues noted.
They also found that future drinkers reported higher levels of sensation seeking, a personality characteristic linked to risk-taking behavior. Otherwise, the groups were largely similar on psychological, behavioral, and cognitive measures.
Byrne’s team concluded: “These findings suggest that cortical thickness network topology at ages 9–10 may serve as a neuroanatomical risk marker for early adolescent alcohol initiation.”
The researchers caution that the study has some limitations. The number of young people who began drinking early was relatively small, which may have reduced the stability of some findings. In addition, demographic matching cannot fully account for cultural, social, and environmental influences that may shape both brain development and alcohol use.
The study, “Brain network features predating early alcohol initiation in adolescence,” was authored by Hollie Byrne, Ryan Visontay, Erin K. Devine, Natasha E. Wade, Joanna Jacobus, Lindsay M. Squeglia, and Lexine Mewton.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-network-patterns-in-childhood-linked-to-early-alcohol-use/
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #BrainNetworks #AdolescentAlcoholUse #EarlyInitiation #Neurodevelopment #ABCDStudy #CorticalMaturation #NetworkTopology #SensationSeeking #Neuroimaging #TranslationalPsychiatry
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Study finds no detectable short-term brain harm after one youth soccer season https://www.rawchili.com/5029387/ #Adolescents #Biochemistry #blood #brain #Neuroimaging #Soccer
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At booth #39-40 today, Artinis & @NIRx Medical Technologies are demoing #fNIRS + #TMS, a powerful combination for brain stimulation research that gives you both the trigger and the response. Come, join us at 1 PM!
Visit booth #44 for:
🔹 APEX EEG + Brite fNIRS
🔹 SAGA EEG + NIRSport2 demos!https://www.artinis-nirx.com/ohbm-2026-bordeaux #🧠 #OHBM2026 #BrainStimulation #Neuroscience #Neuroimaging
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At booth #39-40 today, Artinis & @NIRx Medical Technologies are demoing #fNIRS + #TMS, a powerful combination for brain stimulation research that gives you both the trigger and the response. Come, join us at 1 PM!
Visit booth #44 for:
🔹 APEX EEG + Brite fNIRS
🔹 SAGA EEG + NIRSport2 demos!https://www.artinis-nirx.com/ohbm-2026-bordeaux #🧠 #OHBM2026 #BrainStimulation #Neuroscience #Neuroimaging
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🧠 Could the brain reveal vision loss more accurately than traditional eye tests?
🔗 Using Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials to Characterize Wide-Ranging Retinopathy Linked to CRB1: Implications for Clinical Trials. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal (CSBJ). DOI: https://doi.org/10.34133/csbj.0042
📚 CSBJ - A Science Partner Journal: https://spj.science.org/journal/csbj
#Neuroscience #Ophthalmology #RetinalDiseases #GeneTherapy #EEG #BrainResearch #DigitalHealth #PrecisionMedicine #Neuroimaging
-
🧠 Could the brain reveal vision loss more accurately than traditional eye tests?
🔗 Using Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials to Characterize Wide-Ranging Retinopathy Linked to CRB1: Implications for Clinical Trials. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal (CSBJ). DOI: https://doi.org/10.34133/csbj.0042
📚 CSBJ - A Science Partner Journal: https://spj.science.org/journal/csbj
#Neuroscience #Ophthalmology #RetinalDiseases #GeneTherapy #EEG #BrainResearch #DigitalHealth #PrecisionMedicine #Neuroimaging
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Cerebellar flatmaps now in #ggsegverse!
We have now shipped across the ggsegverse the possibility to visualise the cerebellum parcellations also, based on the SUIT flatmap from the Diedriksen lab.
Read more about it https://ggsegverse.github.io/news/cerebellar-support/
-
Cerebellar flatmaps now in #ggsegverse!
We have now shipped across the ggsegverse the possibility to visualise the cerebellum parcellations also, based on the SUIT flatmap from the Diedriksen lab.
Read more about it https://ggsegverse.github.io/news/cerebellar-support/
-
Call for Papers: Human Neuroimaging Education Special Issue
Share training programs, open resources, AI in education and more.
Deadline: 31 Aug 2026
Guidelines: https://apertureneuro.org/for-authors
-
Call for Papers: Human Neuroimaging Education Special Issue
Share training programs, open resources, AI in education and more.
Deadline: 31 Aug 2026
Guidelines: https://apertureneuro.org/for-authors
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#fMRT, macht die #Hirnaktivität sichtbar, doch die Interpretation wird häufig hinterfragt. Auch Forschende der @FAU ermittelten in einer #Studie eine Diskrepanz. Die Autoren sprechen jedoch nicht von Kritik an der Methode, sondern von #Erkenntnisgewinn für die fMRT-Bildgebung, wobei ein zweiter Blick neues offenbart...
Interessiert an mehr? Den #HintergrundArtikel von Larissa Tetsch findet ihr hier: https://www.laborjournal.de/editorials/3465.php
#Laborjournal #LifeSci #Neuroimaging #Neuroscience #Hirnforschung
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#fMRT, macht die #Hirnaktivität sichtbar, doch die Interpretation wird häufig hinterfragt. Auch Forschende der @FAU ermittelten in einer #Studie eine Diskrepanz. Die Autoren sprechen jedoch nicht von Kritik an der Methode, sondern von #Erkenntnisgewinn für die fMRT-Bildgebung, wobei ein zweiter Blick neues offenbart...
Interessiert an mehr? Den #HintergrundArtikel von Larissa Tetsch findet ihr hier: https://www.laborjournal.de/editorials/3465.php
#Laborjournal #LifeSci #Neuroimaging #Neuroscience #Hirnforschung
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Thank you for the incredible response to our recent #fNIRS Introduction Courses! Our next stop is #Sydney 🇦🇺
📅 Friday, April 24
⏰ 10 AM – 5 PM
📍 University of Sydney, Camperdown/Darlington CampusJoin us for a full day of hands-on learning and expert insights. Spots are limited 👉 https://zurl.co/HYf2l
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Thank you for the incredible response to our recent #fNIRS Introduction Courses! Our next stop is #Sydney 🇦🇺
📅 Friday, April 24
⏰ 10 AM – 5 PM
📍 University of Sydney, Camperdown/Darlington CampusJoin us for a full day of hands-on learning and expert insights. Spots are limited 👉 https://zurl.co/HYf2l
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Mind-bending visualization of brain spirals sweeping across the cortex — a stunning re-creation from Gong et al. Watch neural waves come alive and rethink how activity travels through the brain. Perfect for neuroscience lovers and visual explorers! #neuroscience #brain #neuroimaging #visualization #science #research #neuro #English
https://video.davidsterry.com/videos/watch/f4613fb1-0c22-4fb2-b95d-2505e5125204 -
New ggsegverse update!
I finally got around to pre-release new ggseg.extra (notice name change) package, for creating new atlases.
https://ggsegverse.github.io/news/ggseg.extra/
It's full of new features, and likely lots of new bugs.
I'd love folks to test how it works, I've really tried making things more robust and I hope its payed off! -
New ggsegverse update!
I finally got around to pre-release new ggseg.extra (notice name change) package, for creating new atlases.
https://ggsegverse.github.io/news/ggseg.extra/
It's full of new features, and likely lots of new bugs.
I'd love folks to test how it works, I've really tried making things more robust and I hope its payed off! -
neuromapr 0.2.1 has been accepted and published on CRAN!
Very excited to get this out to users in the simplest way possible, and hope the #rstats #neuroimaging community finds it useful!
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neuromapr 0.2.1 has been accepted and published on CRAN!
Very excited to get this out to users in the simplest way possible, and hope the #rstats #neuroimaging community finds it useful!
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🧠 From setup to real-time decoding: how fNIRS-BCIs actually work. In Part 1 of our #fNIRS #BCI: Methodology and (clinical) application possibilities" webinar series, Dr. Bettina Sorger from Maastricht University & Dr. Franziska Klein from OFFIS guide you through system setup, experimental design, and the fundamentals of online analysis.
They also discuss the strengths & limitations of fNIRS compared to other BCI modalities.
▶️ https://zurl.co/pemtc
#Neuroscience #Neuroimaging -
🧠 From setup to real-time decoding: how fNIRS-BCIs actually work. In Part 1 of our #fNIRS #BCI: Methodology and (clinical) application possibilities" webinar series, Dr. Bettina Sorger from Maastricht University & Dr. Franziska Klein from OFFIS guide you through system setup, experimental design, and the fundamentals of online analysis.
They also discuss the strengths & limitations of fNIRS compared to other BCI modalities.
▶️ https://zurl.co/pemtc
#Neuroscience #Neuroimaging -
New neuromapr #rstats package is available from GitHub! Highly experimental, early adopters and bug identifiers are super welcome to report issues!
It implements the framework from Markello et al. (2022, Nature Methods) and is aligned with the neuromaps Python reference implementation. Co-developed with Claude Code.
https://netneurolab.github.io/neuromaps/index.html -
New neuromapr #rstats package is available from GitHub! Highly experimental, early adopters and bug identifiers are super welcome to report issues!
It implements the framework from Markello et al. (2022, Nature Methods) and is aligned with the neuromaps Python reference implementation. Co-developed with Claude Code.
https://netneurolab.github.io/neuromaps/index.html -
The ggseg ecosystem finally has a proper home! 🧠
For those who don't know, ggseg is an R package ecosystem for visualizing brain atlas data. Think ggplot2, but for brains. -
The ggseg ecosystem finally has a proper home! 🧠
For those who don't know, ggseg is an R package ecosystem for visualizing brain atlas data. Think ggplot2, but for brains. -
Another reason why you really can't beat yourself up over mistakes in the past -
Human #brains have 5 distinct 'epochs' in a lifetime, study finds https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/human-brains-5-epochs-development-rcna245663
#braindevelopment #research #neuroimaging #neuralnetwork #mentalhealth #brainarchitecture
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New post out! 🚀 Dive into R's `apply()` function with me. I'm breaking down `MARGIN` from basic matrices to complex 5D fMRI neuroimaging data, showing how to avoid messy loops. Essential for anyone working with arrays! #RStats #Neuroimaging #DataAnalysis
https://drmo.site/k40xD5