Living from a posture of thankfulness improves sleep, stabilizes emotions, sharpens memory, and can even add years to your ...

The nucleus accumbens is a tiny element of the human brain triggered when we experience something enjoyable, and used to help ...

Some people bounce back from trauma, but others get caught in depressive loops that sap the joy from their lives. Now, scientists at UC San Francisco are learning how the brain creates these divergent ...

The other day at my office, a colleague brought in his new kitten. Work stopped as everyone gathered around for pets and cuddles. I asked my friend Giuseppe Giannotti why people find kittens and ...

A small region of the brain, known as the ventral tegmental area (VTA), plays a key role in how we process rewards. It produces dopamine, a neuromodulator that helps predict future rewards based on ...

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 ...

Few things crush the spirit like the sensation of giving up. We all know the feeling, when you thought a goal was in reach, then realize you just don’t have enough of whatever it takes to get there.

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 ...

But why is that? What is it about our relationships that make them so central to our lives? According to neuroscientist Ben Rein’s new book, Why Brains Need Friends, it comes down to our brains. As he ...