Dopamine—a neurotransmitter responsible for influencing motivation, pleasure, mood and learning in the brain—has experienced a bit of fame in recent years, acting as a sort of buzzword to describe a ...

A new study in the Journal of Neuroscience has discovered underlying sex differences in the molecular pathways that drive reward-related behaviors. In particular, the study found differences and ...

Anorexia nervosa is a serious mental disorder that manifests with an intense fear of weight gain and a disturbed body image. This can lead to severe diet restrictions or other behaviors like purging, ...

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 ...

The concept of dopamine fasting has surged in popularity, particularly in high-performance environments like Silicon Valley. Proponents claim that temporarily abstaining from pleasurable activities ...

However, the opioid pathway, a heavily studied physiologic pathway inextricably intertwined with behaviour and reward, rarely receives attention within psychiatric practice. Although the opioid system ...

Researchers have found that the subliminal presentation of images of one's own face activates a central component of the dopamine reward pathway, thus illuminating the mechanisms behind our powerful ...

Idiosyncratic cravings for foods such as ice cream or pickles, occur in most pregnant women. Over-nutrition and obesity resulting from such cravings can cause metabolic and psychiatric disorders in ...

The key to overcoming addictions and psychiatric disorders lives deep inside the netherworld of our brains and the circuitry that causes us to feel good. Just like space, this region of the brain ...

In the age of Zoom, many people have discovered how very uncomfortable it is to look at their own faces. I’ve been teaching mirror meditation to help students overcome self-criticism and develop more ...