Both animals and humans are motivated to seek natural rewards to feel pleasure but also avoid unpleasant and aversive stimuli that predict pain, loss and danger. Disruption of reward-related neural ...

Ten years ago, researchers discovered a small group of people who derive no pleasure from music despite having normal hearing and the ability to enjoy other experiences or stimuli. The condition, ...

Romantic love is often described as a feeling, but brain imaging suggests it is also a long running neural project that reshapes how we experience reward, stress and safety. When infatuation settles ...

Researchers scanning soccer fans’ brains found that wins trigger bursts of reward activity while losses dampen control signals. The results show how loyalty and rivalry can override logic, turning ...

Why do so many people relapse after quitting cocaine? A new study from The Hebrew University reveals that a specific "anti-reward" brain circuit becomes hyperactive during withdrawal—driving ...

A small group of people experience no pleasure from music despite normal hearing and intact emotions. Brain imaging reveals that their auditory and reward systems fail to properly communicate, leaving ...

A number of small studies claim that art therapy reduces depression through helping people with mood disorders resolve emotional problems and release repressed feelings. But maybe that is not really ...