FeaturedPsychology·July 15, 2020Early Life Stress Associated with Youth Onset of Depression for Some Types of Stress But Not Others
FeaturedNeurologyOpen Neuroscience ArticlesPsychology·July 14, 2020COVID-19 May Attack Patients’ Central Nervous System
FeaturedOpen Neuroscience ArticlesPsychology·July 13, 2020People with Coronavirus Symptoms More Likely to Have Psychiatric Disorders and Loneliness
FeaturedNeuroscienceNeuroscience VideosPsychology·March 11, 2020Older children’s brains respond differently to rewarding vs. negative experiences late in dayOlder children have stronger neural responses to rewards over punishments later in the afternoon. In younger children, this pattern is reversed. Read More
FeaturedNeuroscience·February 21, 2020The Impact of Paternal Marijuana Exposure on the Brains of OffspringCannabis use in males appears to alter sperm before mating, increasing the risk of their offspring developing brain abnormalities in areas associated with mood, memory, learning, and reward. Read More
FeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·February 20, 2020The secret to achieving goalsResearchers analyzed the relationship between reward and effort in achieving goals and identified two critical stages in the decision-making process. Read More
FeaturedNeurosciencevisual neuroscience·January 17, 2020Reward improves visual perceptual learning, but only after people sleepReward does not improve visual perception learning unless it is followed by a good night's sleep. Read More
FeaturedGeneticsNeuroscience·January 15, 2020With these neurons, extinguishing fear is its own rewardFear extinction memories and feelings of reward are both stored in neurons that express the Ppp1r1b gene in the posterior of the basolateral amygdala. Read More
FeaturedNeuroscienceOpen Neuroscience ArticlesPsychology·May 22, 2019Exploring the science of decision-makingWhen faced with complex choices, people show bursts of exploration before settling into preferred options of higher value. Read More
FeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·May 15, 2019Inflammation induces anhedonia in women but not menInflammation appears to reduce reward response in females. Reduced activity in the brain's reward system is a key component of anhedonia, the loss of enjoyment in activities, a core feature of depression. The findings may explain why depression is more prevalent in women than in men. Read More
FeaturedNeuroscienceNeuroscience VideosOpen Neuroscience ArticlesPsychology·May 14, 2019Treats might mask animal intelligencePositive reinforcement by reward is important for learning based behaviors, but masks the expression of underlying knowledge and true animal intelligence. Read More
FeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·May 6, 2019Unexpectedly, big wins improve two kinds of memoryUnexpected rewards boost memories of specific events. The findings may have implications for treating memory problems associated with depression. Read More
FeaturedNeuroscienceOpen Neuroscience Articles·April 29, 2019What makes memories stronger? Rat StudyHippocampal replay selectively enhances memory of highly rewarded locations in a familiar context. Read More
FeaturedNeuroscienceOpen Neuroscience ArticlesPsychology·April 16, 2019When it comes to learning, what’s better: The carrot or the stick?People are more confident in decisions, and execute choices more quickly, if they are chasing a reward. However, we become more flexible in our decisions when trying to avoid a negative outcome. Read More
FeaturedNeuroscienceOpen Neuroscience Articles·March 6, 2019More Than Just Memories: A New Role for the Hippocampus During LearningA new role for the hippocampus involving pattern separation and conjunctive representation in reinforcement learning is discussed. Read More
