Lasting Emotions: How Brief Stimuli Impact Humans & Mice
- Emotions profoundly influence human behaviour, guiding decisions and actions.
- The research reveals shared features in brain activity between humans and mice, suggesting a common emotional response mechanism across mammals.
- "Emotional states are basic to psychiatry," said Dr.karl Deisseroth, professor of bioengineering and of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford, who led the research team.
Uncover groundbreaking findings: Stanford researchers have mapped brain activity during emotional responses,revealing shared patterns in both humans and mice—a major step in understanding the human brain. This study, appearing in Science, used mild stimuli to trigger reactions, offering vital insights into neuropsychiatric disorders. The research, part of Stanford Medicine’s Human Neural Circuitry program, could revolutionize how we approach conditions characterized by emotional disturbances. The use of eye puffs as a consistent trigger allowed for precise measurement of brain activity. News Directory 3 will continue to report on the implications of this work. What do these shared patterns mean for treating and understanding the neurological bases of our emotional responses? Discover what’s next as this team expands its research.
Stanford Maps Brain Activity Behind Emotional Response
Updated May 29, 2025
Emotions profoundly influence human behaviour, guiding decisions and actions. however, the neurological basis of emotional response remains largely mysterious. Now,a new Stanford Medicine study published in Science sheds light on this area,mapping brainwide neuronal processing related to emotional response triggered by mildly unpleasant sensory input.
The research reveals shared features in brain activity between humans and mice, suggesting a common emotional response mechanism across mammals. These findings could advance understanding of neuropsychiatric disorders characterized by emotional disturbances.
“Emotional states are basic to psychiatry,” said Dr.karl Deisseroth, professor of bioengineering and of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford, who led the research team. The study was part of Stanford Medicine’s Human Neural Circuitry research program, which aims to understand the human brain in both healthy and diseased states.
Researchers focused on negative sensory experiences but believe the observed brainwide activity pattern may extend to positive experiences as well. According to Deisseroth, the mammalian brain’s large size allows for a richer mental life but also requires efficient integration of sensory data, goals, and physiological needs for accurate decision-making. Emotions, he suggests, integrate this information to guide behavior.
Dr. Ethan Richman, a lead co-author, likened the brain’s communication to a piano’s sustain pedal, extending the duration of notes. Disruptions in the stability of brainwide communication patterns could contribute to emotional dysfunction in neuropsychiatric disorders.
Rather of optogenetics, the team employed an evolutionary approach, comparing neural activity in mice and humans during emotion-generating stimuli. This allowed them to pinpoint key principles shared between the two species.”this approach allowed us to focus our study on the key principles that were shared between mice and humans,” said Dr. Isaac Kauvar, another lead co-author.
The researchers used air puffs to the eye, a common tool in ophthalmology, as the stimulus. Participants described the puffs as “annoying” and “uncomfortable,” providing a consistent, measurable, and safe way to trigger an emotional response.
“Emotional states are fundamental to psychiatry.”
What’s next
Future research will explore whether the identified brainwide activity pattern generalizes to positive experiences,potentially offering a more complete picture of emotional processing and its role in mental health.