A study by new faculty member Kyle Smith and MIT researcher Ann Graybiel have shown that activity in two habit-related areas can change in different, complementary ways as habits are formed, broken, and replaced. Using a technique called optogenetics to inhibit this activity with light in real-time, the authors show that preventing habit-related activity in one of the areas can prevent habits from forming in the first place.
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We used multivariate pattern analysis of fMRI data to reveal a widespread neural network that performs specific mental manipulations on the contents of visual imagery.
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The recent discovery that rodents have a well-developed magnetic compass sense has stimulated interest in the neural mechanism responsible for detecting and processing magnetic information in mammals. Image - Model of Radical Pair Mechanism response (data from Cintelosi et al. 2003).
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A recent study published by Andrea Robinson and David Bucci in the journal Neuroscience indicates that exercising during pregnancy can improve recognition memory in the offspring when they are tested as adults.
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Dr. Travis Todd, a postdoctoral fellow in Professor David Bucci’s laboratory, has received the 2013 New Investigator Award from the American Psychological Association (Division of Experimental Psychology).
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