Both animals and humans are motivated to seek natural rewards to feel pleasure but also avoid unpleasant and aversive stimuli that predict pain, loss and danger. Disruption of reward-related neural ...

The nicotine found in tobacco stimulates the reward circuit, encouraging consumption and potentially leading to addiction. In a paper published in Neuron, scientists reveal how, in mice, a small ...

"This is the first study in schizophrenia to link inflammation with both brain changes in reward circuits and specific motivational symptoms," says David Goldsmith, MD, associate professor in the ...

Why do so many people relapse after quitting cocaine? A new study from The Hebrew University reveals that a specific "anti-reward" brain circuit becomes hyperactive during withdrawal-driving ...