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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Brain’s reward region helps to supply resilience in the face of stress

Rats that lose their zest for life after tough times show changes in a key brain area, but resilient rats do not.
Serotonin crystals.

Crystals of serotonin, a nervous-system signalling chemical. Rats resistant to feeling pleasure have abundant serotonin-making neurons in their brains. Credit: Michael W. Davidson/SPL

After prolonged stress, some people still have the capacity for enjoyment, but others find no pleasure in activities that used to be rewarding — one of the main symptoms of depression. Research on rats now links this loss of capacity for pleasure to the number of neurons that produce the brain signalling molecule serotonin.

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Nature 576, 184 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-03723-w

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