Study explores the role the reward system plays in chronic pain, finding emotional and physical pain are bidirectional. Opioids, researchers report, ultimately make things worse. Read More
Diet-induced changes to the reward system and innate differences may predispose mice to over-eating. Read More
Do you experience the chills when you hear your favorite song? Researchers used EEG to map brain activity while people listened to their favorite tunes. Findings reveal specific brain areas work together to process music, triggering the reward system and increasing dopamine release. Read More
Mouse study reveals sleep deprivation can increase the risk of cocaine addiction. Too little sleep increases the reward properties of cocaine, researchers report. Read More
Neuroimaging and computational neuroscience studies reveal different ways and brain areas implicated in decision making. Read More
Common green apple flavorant farnesene enhances nicotine reward in mouse models. The flavorant is also rewarding on its own. Researchers say with or without nicotine, flavored vapes, especially those containing farnesene, pose potential neurological risks, including addiction. Read More
Obesity risk in teens appears to be associated with stronger connectivity within and between regions of the brain implicated in determining the salience of stimuli. This may have implications for reward processing. Researchers report executive control efforts in the brain decrease when salience and reward-processing regions are engaged in teens with obesity. Read More
Researchers 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
A recent study reveals people are more likely to become more altruistic and charitable as they age. Read More
Neuroimaging study sheds light on what drove the evolutionary development of human creativity. Read More
Dietary 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
A 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
