A new study on laboratory rats has found that the brain’s ability to learn from rewards is enhanced by the hormone estrogen.

A new study shows that estrogen naturally modulates dopamine signaling in the brain, altering how female rats learn reward cues across the reproductive cycle.

Chronic cocaine use is associated with prominent morphological changes in nucleus accumbens shell (NACsh) neurons, including increases in dendritic spine density along with enhanced motivation for ...

Aims: A possible addiction mechanism has been represented by altered functional connectivity (FC) in the resting state. The aim of this study was to evaluate the FCs of the insula and nucleus ...

Neuroscience shows us the brain is hardwired to respond to beauty. Seeing an attractive face activates the brain's reward and ...

The current neurobiologic framework for understanding addiction rests upon the nearly ubiquitous manifestation of dopamine surges within the mesolimbic system of the brain, including nucleus accumbens ...

Neuroscientists at UCSF’s Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center (EGCRC) have discovered that a molecule in neurons boosts the brain’s response to alcohol, triggering in minutes chemical changes that ...

Social behavior in mouse models of autism spectrum disorder normalized when investigators triggered the release of a specific signaling substance, serotonin, in a single part of the animals' brains, ...