Daily-life stress differentially impacts ventral striatal dopaminergic modulation of reward processing in first-degree relatives of individuals with psychosis

Emerging evidence shows that stress can impair the ability to learn from and pursue rewards, which in turn has been linked to motivational impairments characteristic of the psychotic disorder. Ventral striatal dopaminergic neurotransmission has been found to modulate reward processing, and appears to be disrupted by exposure to stress. We investigated the hypothesis that stress experienced in the everyday life has a blunting effect on reward-induced dopamine release in the ventral striatum of 16 individuals at a familial risk for psychosis compared to 16 matched control subjects.

Source: European Neuropsychopharmacology - October 25, 2018 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Zuzana Kasanova, Jenny Ceccarini, Michael J Frank, Th érèse van Amelsvoort, Jan Booij, Alexander Heinzel, Felix M. Mottaghy, Inez Myin-Germeys Source Type: research