All Articles Tagged As: insula

Hunger hormone makes food look more attractive (5/7/2008)

A new brain-imaging study reveals that ghrelin - a stomach hormone, acts on specific regions of the brain to enhance our response to food related cues and eating for pleasure. ...> Full Article

Brain reacts to fairness as it does to money and chocolate, study shows (4/23/2008)

The human brain responds to being treated fairly the same way it responds to winning money and eating chocolate ...> Full Article

A Little Anxiety Pays Sometimes, Study Shows (4/6/2008)

Researchers identify region of brain that plays a key role in predicting harm and also learning to avoid it ...> Full Article

The influence of the irrelevant: Researchers show stimuli unrelated to a decision can still influence the choice we make (4/5/2008)

Study shows that when heterosexual men are exposed to positive emotional stimuli-in this case, erotic photos of a man and woman-an area of the brain associated with anticipation of reward is stimulated ...> Full Article

Study shows compassion meditation changes the brain (3/29/2008)

Can we train ourselves to be compassionate? A new study suggests the answer is yes. Cultivating compassion and kindness through meditation affects brain regions that can make a person more empathetic to other peoples' mental states ...> Full Article

Disgusting videos key to first-ever brain imaging study comparing ways of controlling emotions (3/19/2008)

Researchers have conducted the first-ever brain imaging study that directly contrasts two different techniques for emotion regulation. ...> Full Article

To bet or not to bet: How the brain learns to estimate risk (3/18/2008)

Researchers from EPFL and Caltech have made an important neurobiological discovery of how humans learn to predict risk. The research, appearing in the March 12 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, will shed light on why certain kinds of risk, notably financial risk, are often underestimated, and whether abnormal behavior such as addiction (e.g. to gambling or drugs) could be caused by an erroneous evaluation of risk. ...> Full Article

Memory-sustaining Enzyme May Help Treat PTSD, Cognitive Decline (11/3/2007)

Rat Memory Eraser Study Challenges Prevailing Theories ...> Full Article

Brain Circuits That Control Hunger Identified (10/31/2007)

Researchers have determined the brain circuits involved in hunger that are influenced by a hormone called leptin. In previous clinical trials, supplementation of leptin, the signaling molecule produced by fat cells, produced moderate weight loss in some obese patients, purportedly by inhibiting hunger and promoting feelings of being full. Thus, this new work suggests possible new targets for treating obesity. ...> Full Article

Drug-craving Brain Region In Rats Discovered (10/29/2007)

Chilean researchers have identified a region of the brain -- the insular cortex -- that plays a role in drug craving in amphetamine-addicted rats, according to a report published in Science. This finding ultimately may help support the development of new therapies to treat drug addiction as well as certain behavioral side effects of medications. ...> Full Article