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 ...

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 ...

Researchers at Leipzig University have gained important insights into learning mechanisms in the brain of the fruit fly ...

Editor’s note: The podcast Chasing Life With Dr. Sanjay Gupta explores the medical science behind some of life’s mysteries big and small. You can listen to episodes here. (CNN) — If you are like many ...

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 ...

In two separate studies, researchers learned more about the way that our brains respond to music. One study found that brain neurons synchronize with musical rhythms, while the other showed how ...

A study published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience provides evidence that the brain’s reward system ...

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.