Dopamine is the brain’s motivational spark, driving us to chase what feels good and steer clear of what doesn’t. But scientists haven’t fully understood how dopamine helps us learn to avoid bad ...

We're all familiar with Pavlovian conditioning, in which a reward-anticipatory behavior follows a reward-predicting stimulus. Perhaps you experience it yourself when passing a cafe or restaurant and ...

A new study published in Brain Sciences provides evidence that dopamine promotes movement by directly altering the excitability of key neurons in the brain’s motor circuitry. The research identifies a ...

Chronic disappointment can train the brain to expect pain instead of reward. Restoring hope means reawakening dopamine ...

Researchers have discovered a potentially safer yet effective treatment for multiple disorders that display altered dopamine signaling. The “key?” A molecule that targets a specific protein called the ...

Dangers come but dangers also go and when they do, the brain has an “all-clear” signal that teaches it to extinguish its fear. A new study in mice by MIT neuroscientists shows that the signal is the ...

A new brain imaging study led by researchers in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health in the Renaissance School ...