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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Experts break down the neurobiology of distraction, revealing why willpower fails and how proactive control and self-hypnosis restore focus.

Methamphetamine doesn't just spike levels of the pleasure-inducing hormone dopamine in the reward pathways of the brain—it also provokes damaging brain inflammation through similar mechanisms. Meth is ...

A study published in Nature Medicine identified a link between the placebo effect and immune system function. In the experiment, individuals who generated positive expectations showed a stronger ...

Scientists discover that Candida albicans, overly abundant in people with alcohol use disorder, triggers immune response that alters dopamine signaling in mice “Our study shows how science works—our ...

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.