A parent's wealth and social status can influence a child's risk-taking behaviors.
The direct phosphorylation of KCNQ2 by ERK occurs through the activation of the dopamine signaling pathway in the nucleus accumbens of mice.
Psychostimulants increase dopamine levels, enhancing task-relevant cortical signals by acting on the striatum and the difference in dopamine synthesis capacity in the striatum explains the variability in the drugs' cognitive effects.
Addiction occurs as a result of the reward system becoming overwhelmed in a way that leads to chronic and permanent alterations in the brain.
The ventral striatum plays a crucial role when it comes to choices about future pain versus future profit.
Aggression toward members in an "outgroup" was associated with increased activity in areas of the brain associated with reward. Activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex impacted the level of aggression a person demonstrated against an outsider.
Dopamine in the cerebellum helps regulate social behaviors via its action on D2 receptors. Changes in D2 levels in Purkinje cells alter sociability and preference for social novelty without affecting motor function.
Researchers investigate how cannabis can influence a number of cognitive and psychological processes.
A new study sheds light on the neurobiology of cravings for certain foods women experience while pregnant. According to researchers, during pregnancy, the brain undergoes alterations to functional connections in the reward systems, as well as taste and sensorimotor centers. Pregnant females become more sensitive to sweet foods and develop binge eating behaviors toward high-calorie foods. Pregnancy induces a full reorganization of the mesolimbic neural circuits via D2R dopaminergic neurons in the nucleus accumbens.
Inducing massive inflammation resulted in an overexpression of Trpv4. The overexpression led to neural hyperexcitability that resulted in social avoidance behaviors associated with ASD in mouse models.
The motivation to invest in social interactions is closely linked to the reward system via the activation of dopaminergic neurons.
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.
