Levodopa, a drug commonly prescribed for the treatment of Parkinson's disease that increases dopamine in the brain was found to reverse the effects of neuroinflammation on the reward system and improve symptoms associated with depression.
Anhedonia and depression arise when POMC neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus become hyperactive as a result of chronic stress. Reducing the activity also reduces feelings of depression and loss of pleasure.
People with schizophrenia and social anhedonia exhibit altered neural processing for social reward processing, leading to impaired social interaction and social dysfunction.
Amotivation and anhedonia rather than expressive dysfunction play a critical role in determining social functioning in those with schizophrenia.
A new rodent study uncovers a neural circuit in the brain that appears to govern pain-induced anhedonia. Altering the activity of this circuit restored motivation in pre-clinical models of pain.
Both those with schizophrenia and those with social anhedonia have alterations in the social brain network and a diminished correlation with real-world social network size.
Patients with schizophrenia, but not those with social anhedonia, exhibited deficits in real-life social network size. Those with schizophrenia and those with social anhedonia had reversals functional connectivity to one another. People with schizophrenia showed decreased segregation and functional connectivity in brain areas associated with social behaviors, while those with social anhedonia had an increase in connectivity and segregation.
Study links anhedonia, or the loss of pleasure, to the early onset of frontotemporal dementia. Neuroimaging revealed symptoms of anhedonia were marked by atrophy in the frontal and striatal brain areas of those with FTD.
Ezogabine, a drug that opens up the KCNQ2/3 type potassium channel, significantly improved symptoms of depression and anhedonia.
From helping to reduce depression to boosting dopamine in the reward system, researchers review how taking up a hobby can have positive effects on mental health.
Study reveals how the brain's opioid system is linked to mood changes associated with depression and anxiety. Neuroimaging revealed, in those with depression, there is a decreased number of opioid receptors in specific areas of the brain.
Musical anhedonia, a neurological condition where people don't enjoy music, affects 5% of the population. Researchers are exploring if this same condition could also be what impairs social bonding for some people on the autism spectrum.
