Reward Sensitivity: A Narrative Review
Abstract
Tiffany Field
Behavioral effects of reward sensitivity include its increase across development, school burnout, internet gaming, internet addiction, cyber–aggression, depression and drinking. Physical effects include increased physical activity, decreased heart rate reactivity, blood pressure and connectivity as well as increased cortico-striatal function and a blunted relationship between substance use disorder and striatal activity. Potential underlying biological mechanisms are related to dopamine, the hippocampus, the cerebellum and connectivity between the dorsal motor nucleus and the striatum. Interventions have included behavioral activation, amplifying positivity, mindfulness, creating mental images, transcranial electrical stimulation, and administration of dopamine and naltrexone. Methodological limitations include prevalent sampling of university students, the cross-sectional design of the research, and the almost exclusively negative effects.