The authors give an overview of how various video game reward systems provide positive experiences to players, and propose classifications for rewards and reward characteristics for further analysis. We also discuss what reward systems encourage players to do, and describe how they provide fun even before players receive their rewards. Next, we describe how game reward systems can be used to mo...

How do addictive drugs hijack the brain's reward system? This review speculates how normal, physiological reward processes may be affected by addictive drugs. Addictive drugs affect acute responses and plasticity in dopamine neurons and postsynaptic structures. These effects reduce reward discrimination, increase the effects of reward prediction error signals, and enhance neuronal responses to ...

Distinct psychological processes have been proposed to unfold in decision-making. The time course of neural mechanisms supporting these processes has not been fully identified. The present MEG study examined spatio-temporal activity related to components of decision-making proposed to support reward valuation, reward prediction, and outcome evaluation. Each trial presented information on reward...