Researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine and Tufts Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences have found a surprising connection between a fungus associated with alcohol use disorder and the ...

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

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.

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 ...

Some people bounce back from trauma, but others get caught in depressive loops that sap the joy from their lives. Researchers at UCSF find a brain signature of resilience in mice that suggests a new ...

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 ...

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 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.