Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Daily life involves a continuous balance between pursuing positive opportunities – rewards – and remaining vigilant to threats, a dynamic process that is critical for survival in both humans and animals.

Deer staring while searching for  food
A deer remaining alert while finding food

Researchers from Experimental Psychology and the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging (WIN) at the University of Oxford in the UK and the Lyon Neuroscience Research Centre and the National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM) in France have shed light on how we balance pursuing rewards while making sure we are aware of any threats around us. Two recently published studies explore different aspects of this balancing act.

The first study, which has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), explains how networks of neurons in the brain track competing behavioural motivators to decide when to switch behaviour between seeking reward and responding to a threat.

The researchers recorded activity in a brain structure that is one of the major sources of serotonin, a brain chemical that is important in many treatments for depression and anxiety. The results suggest that the structure, which is called the dorsal raphe nucleus DRN), is part of a mechanism for managing transitions between seeking positive opportunities and watching out for threats. The scientists found a relationship between individual variation in brain activity in the DRN and individual variation in the way people balance their behaviour between a focus on positive opportunities and being vigilant for threats.

 

Read the full story on the Department of Experimental Psychology website.