Stress is a primary risk factor for several neuropsychiatric disorders. Evidence from
preclinical models and clinical studies of depression have revealed an array of structural …

Stress and anxiety have intertwined behavioral and neural underpinnings. These
commonalities are critical for understanding each state, as well as their mutual interactions …

Psychedelics have inspired new hope for treating brain disorders, as they seem to be unlike
any treatments currently available. Not only do they produce sustained therapeutic effects …

The ventral tegmental area dopamine (VTA-DA) mesolimbic circuit processes emotional,
motivational, and social reward associations together with their more demanding cognitive …

Although the basolateral amygdala (BLA) is known to play a critical role in the formation of
memories of both positive and negative valence, the coding and routing of valence-related …

Major depressive disorder is a common, complex, and potentially life-threatening mental
disorder that imposes a severe social and economic burden worldwide. Over the years …

How do our brains determine whether something is good or bad? How is this computational
goal implemented in biological systems? Given the critical importance of valence processing …

In the forced swim test (FST) rodents progressively show increased episodes of immobility if
immersed in a beaker with water from where escape is not possible. In this test, a compound …

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by two seemingly unrelated symptom
domains—deficits in social interactions and restrictive, repetitive patterns of behavioral …

Dopamine neurons located in the midbrain play a role in motivation that regulates approach
behavior (approach motivation). In addition, activation and inactivation of dopamine neurons …