Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on neural responses to reward: A quasi-experiment
Background The COVID-19 pandemic has been a prolonged period of stress due to social
isolation, illness, death, and other major life disruptions. Neural reward sensitivity, essential
for healthy functioning, may become reduced under major naturalistic stressors, though few
studies have examined this. The present study sought to test whether neural responses to
rewards were significantly blunted by the stress of the pandemic. Methods We compared 2
groups of young adult participants, who completed a monetary reward task while an …
isolation, illness, death, and other major life disruptions. Neural reward sensitivity, essential
for healthy functioning, may become reduced under major naturalistic stressors, though few
studies have examined this. The present study sought to test whether neural responses to
rewards were significantly blunted by the stress of the pandemic. Methods We compared 2
groups of young adult participants, who completed a monetary reward task while an …