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 ...

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 ...

When faced with multiple food options and ultimately choosing one, the factors of that decision-making process may be more physiological than previously assumed. A group of scientists led by ...

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 ...

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 ...

In a study in the Journal of Affective Disorders, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute scientists Pearl Chiu and Brooks Casas investigate how brain signals involved in reward learning might help ...

India, March 26 -- Your stomach may say you are full, but your brain may still carve for snacks (1).

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 new study published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience provides evidence that the human brain processes romantic partners differently than close friends, specifically within ...

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.