Nucleus accumbens

Recent articles

Two prairie voles.

Oxytocin prompts prairie voles to oust outsiders, fortifying their friendships

The “love hormone” drives the neurobiology behind platonic bonds in animals usually studied for their romantic attachments.

By Holly Barker
8 August 2025 | 7 min read
Research image of serotonin and dopamine neurons manipulated simultaneously in mice.

Dopamine ‘gas pedal’ and serotonin ‘brake’ team up to accelerate learning

Mice learn fastest and most reliably when they experience an increase in dopamine paired with an inhibition of serotonin in their nucleus accumbens, a new study shows, helping to resolve long-standing questions about the neuromodulators’ relationship.

By Angie Voyles Askham
12 February 2025 | 5 min read
Two prairie voles touch snouts in a tank.

Brain gene expression syncs between bonded prairie voles

The overlapping activity in the animals’ nucleus accumbens may underpin pair bonding, a new preprint suggests.

By Shaena Montanari
10 January 2025 | 5 min read
A diagram of green neurnons

Cocaine, morphine commandeer neurons normally activated by food, water in mice

Confirming a long-held hypothesis, repeated exposure to the drugs alters neurons in the nucleus accumbens, the brain’s reward center, and curbs an animal’s urge for sustenance.

By Lauren Schenkman
8 May 2024 | 5 min read

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Textbook model of hippocampus’s role in memory may need updating

The CA3 region, long thought to have just one circuit, has two, sporting different wiring and functions, a new preprint suggests.

By Alissa de Chassey
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Single-cell spatial transcriptomics chart maps of cell types.

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By Jill Adams
4 August 2026 | 2 min read
Ilustração de canto de pássaro, cérebro de pássaro e DNA.

Este artigo mudou minha vida: adotando um dos primeiros modelos de neurociência naturalística

Um artigo publicado na PNAS em 1992 mostrou que o canto das aves aumenta a expressão de um gene de resposta imediata no prosencéfalo dessas aves. O estudo revelou a Ribeiro a importância de investigar as respostas moleculares em contextos naturalísticos.

By Sidarta Ribeiro
3 August 2026 | 5 min read