FeaturedGeneticsNeuroscienceOpen Neuroscience ArticlesPsychology·May 22, 2020Wired for marriage: The neural and genetic links to romantic loveResearchers have identified both genetic and neural mechanisms associated with romantic love and attachment. The maintenance of romantic love is not only associated with subcortical brain regions but also higher-order centers of the brain. The propensity to sustain romantic love appears to also be affected by genetic variability, specifically with genes associated with dopamine, vasopressin, and oxytocin. Read More
FeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·May 3, 2020Do people become more selfless as they age?A recent study reveals people are more likely to become more altruistic and charitable as they age. Read More
FeaturedNeuroscienceOpen Neuroscience Articles·April 9, 2020Aha! + Aaaah: Creative insight triggers a neural reward signalNeuroimaging study sheds light on what drove the evolutionary development of human creativity. Read More
FeaturedNeuroscience·March 5, 2020Triglycerides control neurons in the reward circuitDietary triglycerides directly alter signaling in the reward circuit to regulate behavior. The findings reveal a potential mechanism by which triglyceride-rich diets may lead to adaptions in dopamine signaling that underlie reward deficit and compulsive behaviors. Read More
FeaturedGeneticsNeurosciencePsychology·February 12, 2020Study links human gene variant to THC reward in adolescent femalesA variant of the FAAH gene increases vulnerability to THC in females and has a larger-scale impact on brain regions responsible for reward processing. Read More
FeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·January 23, 2020How the brain processes rewardsDifferent types of reward have unique effects on the basal ganglia nuclei. Food rewards influence the left hemisphere of the brain, while erotic rewards engage the right lateral globus and left caudate. Financial rewards engage the basal ganglia bilaterally. Read More
AutismFeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·January 18, 2020What people who don’t like music might tell us about social interactionMusical 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. Read More
FeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·January 18, 2020Music helps researchers find link between prediction and pleasureExposing subjects to music composed in an unfamiliar scale, researchers test whether reward can be derived solely from newly formed predictions. Read More
FeaturedNeuroscienceOpen Neuroscience ArticlesPsychology·January 17, 2020Rich rewards: ADHD medication’s effect on the brainMethylphenidate may boost norepinephrine levels in the prefrontal cortex, which in turn regulates dopaminergic neurons firing in the striatum, when a reward is delivered. The study sheds new light on how medications for ADHD affect the reward system in the brain. Read More
FeaturedNeuroscienceOpen Neuroscience Articles·January 14, 2020Sugar changes the chemistry of your brainAfter 12 days of sugar intake, researchers noted major changes in both the dopamine and opioid systems of pigs' brains. Alterations in the opioid system were seen following the very first intake of sugar. Read More
FeaturedNeuroscienceOpen Neuroscience Articles·November 26, 2019One shot of ketamine could reduce problem drinkingA single shot of ketamine administered to heavy drinkers following reactivation of their drinking memories led to a rapid decrease in the urge to drink. The effect lasted for over nine months. Read More
FeaturedNeuroscience·November 16, 2019Your brain on sugar: What the science actually saysFrom reducing memory capability to increasing the risk of diabetes and obesity, researchers investigate how sugar affects the brain and body. Read More
