Neural Recalibration

Substances generate a reward that always beats prediction, so the dopamine error signal never decays. See how addiction hijacks the...

In addiction the prefrontal cortex brake does not vanish, it miscalibrates. See how parvalbumin interneurons stop gating the reward pathway...

OCD worsens because each compulsion rewires the CSTC loop through Hebbian co-firing, shifting it from ventral to dorsal striatum. See...

In OCD the orbitofrontal cortex overvalues threat, tagging ordinary thoughts as catastrophic. See how lateral OFC hyperactivity drives the compulsion...

Inflammatory depression starts with cytokines that suppress dopamine in the brain's drive circuit, not low serotonin. See why anti-inflammatory routes...

Antidepressants lift mood but often miss motivation. See why the brain's effort-reward circuit, not the mood circuit, decides nothing feels...

Anhedonia after addiction reflects a recalibrated reward system. See how mu-opioid and dopamine circuits recover, and the realistic timeline.

Your brain actively suppresses drive through the lateral habenula's anti-reward signal. Learn why depression kills motivation, and how to reverse...

Fighting intrusive thoughts makes them louder. Dr. Sydney Ceruto explains the ironic-process trap, the hippocampal GABA shortage, and the salience...

Why won't your brain stop signaling something is wrong? Dr. Sydney Ceruto explains the rostral ACC error-monitor circuit driving OCD...

Blunted D2 receptor expression drives both relentless achievement and substance vulnerability. Dr. Sydney Ceruto explains the shared circuitry.

OCD and basal ganglia: how the brain's thought filter fails, why intrusive thoughts pass through the gate, and what restores...