Sometimes dubbed the 'pleasure chemical', dopamine is often wildly misunderstood. Nikolay Kukushkin delves into what the much ...

The first time a person rides a rollercoaster, they may find it exhilarating, but when they get back on to ride again, they may find that they can’t replicate that initial feeling of excitement.

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 ...

For decades, dopamine has been celebrated in neuroscience as the quintessential "reward molecule"—a chemical herald of ...

Starting a regular program at the gym is a common New Year's resolution, but it's one that most people are unable to stick with for very long. Now a study done in mice is providing clues about one of ...

Researchers have long established that hormones significantly affect the brain, creating changes in emotion, energy levels, and decision-making. However, the intricacies of these processes are not ...

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 ...

Dopamine is one of the most extensively studied chemical messengers in the human brain, and yet scientists are still figuring out how it works to accomplish so much. For years, the classic view has ...

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 ...

Methamphetamine doesn't just spike levels of the pleasure-inducing hormone dopamine in the reward pathways of the brain—it ...

Mental exhaustion isn't a life sentence; often, it is simply a sign that your brain is "full." The 12-hour dopamine fast on ...