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 ...

"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 ...

A small group of people experience no pleasure from music despite normal hearing and intact emotions. Brain imaging reveals that their auditory and reward systems fail to properly communicate, leaving ...

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 ...