The session explored how long-term use of substances affects thinking, behaviour, and everyday decision-making and why ...

We have long been told a simple story about reward: Dopamine is the "wanting" molecule that drives us toward goals, and opioids are the "liking" molecules that provide the hit of pleasure once we get ...

Ten years ago, popular psychology explained motivation quite simply: a person tries because he wants to have fun or avoid punishment. But modern neuroscience shows a more complex picture: our brain ...

A new study shows oral GLP-1 drugs suppress hedonic eating through a deep-brain reward circuit linked to dopamine release, potentially extending their use beyond weight loss.

When faced with multiple food options and ultimately choosing one, the factors of that decision-making process may be more physiological than previously assumed. A group of scientists led by ...

Positive thinking may boost the body’s defenses against disease. Increasing activity in a brain region that controls motivation and expectation, specifically the brain’s reward system, is linked with ...

For a small percentage of people, loss doesn’t soften with time. New research reveals how prolonged grief disorder disrupts the brain’s reward systems—and how treatment can help. A woman attends a ...

I was a third-year medical student at Northwestern on my ICU rotation the first time I saw a dopamine drip. The patient was pale and motionless, his blood pressure dropping by the minute despite large ...

A new study is challenging one of neuroscience’s most enduring ideas: that the brain’s reward system exists to make us feel good. Instead, researchers argue that it is built to optimize energy.