Research indicates that heightened anticipatory anxiety underlies several forms of
psychopathology. Anticipatory anxiety can be reliably and objectively measured in the …

Value-based decision-making is thought to play an important role in drug dependency.
Achieving elevated levels of euphoria or ameliorating dysphoria/pain may motivate goal …

Background Alcohol misuse is associated with externalizing behaviors, including rule
breaking. Studies have implicated altered reward processing in externalizing behaviors and …

Rationale Stimulant drugs like methamphetamine (MA) activate brain reward circuitry, which
is linked to the development of problematic drug use. It is not clear how drugs like MA alter …

Emotionally salient experiences are encoded and remembered more strongly, an effect that
can be amplified by hormones like cortisol. Such memories can in turn profoundly influence …

Poor inhibitory control and heightened feelings of stimulation after alcohol are two well-
established risk factors for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Although these risk factors have …

Perturbations in dopamine system function may increase risk of substance use disorder
(SUD). We recently demonstrated that neuromelanin (NM) MRI signal in the substantia …

Parents' alcohol use may influence adolescent substance use and substance use intentions.
Prior research has linked adolescents' emotion reactivity with parental drinking behaviors …

Anhedonia is a core symptom of major depressive disorder (MDD) and is associated with
worse treatment outcomes. While its narrow definition as a hedonic or consummatory deficit …

Background Robust evidence links sleep and circadian rhythm disturbances to alcohol use
and alcohol-related problems, with a growing literature implicating reward-related …