People's decisions are known to be influenced by past experiences, including the outcomes of earlier choices. For over a century, psychologists have been trying to shed light on the processes ...

Dopamine is a powerful signal in the brain, influencing our moods, motivations, movements, and more. The neurotransmitter is crucial for reward-based learning, a function that may be disrupted in a ...

Research shows that reward-based learning requires the two neuromodulators to balance one another's influence -- like the accelerator and brakes on a car If you've heard of two of the brain's chemical ...

If you reward a monkey with some juice, it will learn which hand to move in response to a specific visual cue – but only if the cerebellum is functioning properly. So say neuroscientists at the ...

Humans and most other animals are known to be strongly driven by expected rewards or adverse consequences. The process of acquiring new skills or adjusting behaviors in response to positive outcomes ...

New findings published in the journal Nature Neuroscience have shed light on a mysterious pathway between the reward center of the brain that is key to how we form habits, known as the basal ganglia, ...

The brain’s primitive “fear center” may be much more than that, as new research on the amygdala suggests it plays a crucial role in learning, emotion, and decision-making. Researchers from Dartmouth ...