Amygdala

Recent articles

Research image of mouse brain slices.

Newfound gene network controls long-range connections between emotional, cognitive brain areas

The finding could help unravel gene regulatory networks and explain how genetic and environmental factors interact in neurodevelopmental conditions.

By Charles Q. Choi
14 November 2024 | 4 min read
Three rhesus macaque monkeys.

Monkeys’ amygdala cells adapt to social status

The cells’ activity reflects social hierarchies and may enable flexible behavior.

By Angie Voyles Askham
6 November 2024 | 4 min read
Illustration of three columns of text with a winding path of blank white space where an eraser has been used.

This paper changed my life: ‘Selective erasure of a fear memory’ from the Josselyn Lab

This groundbreaking 2009 paper set a foundation for the types of memories researchers could manipulate and inspired my own approach to science.

By Steve Ramirez
6 August 2024 | 5 min read
Computer-generated illustration of disgusting green food.

‘It must be something I ate’ is hard-wired into the brain

Feeling sick reactivates “novel flavor” neurons, according to a new study in mice, and points to a dedicated circuit for learning to avoid unsafe food.

By Angie Voyles Askham
29 March 2024 | 6 min read
Portrait of scientist Sheena Josselyn behind a window, with a reflection over her face.

Sheena Josselyn and memories lost, found and created

Her hunt for the engram opened a new avenue in memory research.

By Alla Katsnelson
30 January 2024 | 13 min read
A shop rack of lab coats both white and in many distinct and colorful styles.

On fashion in neuroscience: In defense of freezing behavior

Neuroscience experiments are moving toward the analysis of more complex behaviors, enabled by increasingly sophisticated tools. But we shouldn’t abandon simpler paradigms.

By Sheena Josselyn
19 December 2023 | 6 min read
Three researchers, one wearing movement-tracking devices, walk around a university campus.

‘Into the wild’: Moving studies of memory and learning out of the lab

People with electrodes embedded deep in their brain are collaborating with a growing posse of plucky researchers to uncover the mysteries of real-world recall.

By Katie Moisse
13 November 2023 | 10 min listen
A patient receives transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Magnetic stimulation for autism: Q&A with Xujun Duan

A new individualized approach to transcranial magnetic stimulation may one day be an effective treatment for social and communication difficulties, if the results from Duan’s small preliminary trial pan out.

By Angie Voyles Askham
11 September 2023 | 6 min read
A brain scan displays images of the amygdala with different sections highlighted in blue, red, orange and other colors.

Anxiety drives amygdala differences in autistic youth

Regions of the brain’s fear center expand in autistic children and teenagers with anxiety, but not in their autistic or non-autistic peers without anxiety.

By Peter Hess
27 July 2022 | 5 min read
A cross-section of the human brain and limbic system

Amygdala-linked brain areas grow differently in autism

The growth differences vary between autistic boys and girls and are most apparent among children with prominent social difficulties.

By Charles Q. Choi
13 July 2022 | 5 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Illustration of columns of text with eyes peeking out from behind the central column to look at a bright blue spot.

This paper changed my Life: Bill Newsome reflects on a quadrilogy of classic visual perception studies

The 1970s papers from Goldberg and Wurtz made ambitious mechanistic studies of higher brain functions seem feasible.

By Bill Newsome
21 February 2025 | 6 min read
Interconnected lines form a world map.

Science must step away from nationally managed infrastructure

Scientific data and independence are at risk. We need to work with community-driven services and university libraries to create new multi-country organizations that are resilient to political interference.

By Dan Goodman
20 February 2025 | 7 min read
Illustration of a woman holding a pencil over a map.

Familiar autism-linked genes emerge from first analysis of Latin American cohort

The findings, detailed in a January preprint, suggest autism’s fundamental biology is the same regardless of ancestry. But questions remain.

By Laura Dattaro
20 February 2025 | 5 min read