The limbic system helps regulate emotional and social processing, as well as learning, motivation, and memory. It consists of structures that lie beneath the outer, wrinkly part of the brain and above ...

A combination of innate differences and diet-induced changes to the reward system may predispose some mice to overeat, according to research recently published in JNeurosci. A combination of innate ...

The brain reward system (BRS) is involved in developing/maintaining addictive disorders, as well as relapse. New findings show that alcohol dependent individuals – both future abstainers and relapsers ...

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 ...

People who are depressed very often show reduced interest in experiencing or obtaining pleasure, a symptom called anhedonia that research has traced to dysfunction in the brain’s reward system. In ...

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 brain imaging study reveals how ultra-processed foods reshape appetite circuits, raising concerns that these everyday products could be rewiring our eating habits from the inside out. Study: ...

Researchers have recently uncovered new insights into how the brain’s reward system functions in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its relationship with psychological ...

“I just cannot believe how I don’t crave alcohol anymore!” writes one person. Others declare: “Took my first shot… have not had a drink or cigarette since,” and “I love coffee but I’ve noticed that I ...