Motivational and emotional brain circuits involved in behavior: implications for psychopathology Simón Ferre, María José Considerable progress has been made in the study and dissociation of specific components of the brain reward system that appear to underlie both adaptive behaviours and the development of psychopathological disorders. In this way, compulsive seeking behaviours, affective disorders, pathological learning (negative plasticity), and alterations in cognitive control mechanisms, among others, may be explained by functional and/or neurochemical changes in these circuits, by their interactions with each other or with external agents, and/or by the recruitment of additional systems in certain circumstances. The studies presented in this symposium entitled "Motivational and emotional brain circuits involved in the ", fall within this general framework. Thus, exposure during the foetal stage to external agents (bacteria or viruses) that activate the immune system or to stressful or traumatic situations can produce changes in these subsystems, favouring dysregulation and increasing the propensity to develop addictive behaviours, anxiety, depression, and alterations in social behaviour, among others. Neurobiological changes commonly implicated in addictive behaviours and stress responses include not only the hyperactivity of limbic circuits that regulate such aspects as emotional valence or motivation but also involvement of the hippocampus, among other structures. Researchers are currently studying the participation of the hippocampus in spatial processing, choice, response anticipation and cognitive flexibility. Studies are also underway on the role of neurochemical systems in modulating components of the reward system and on differences in the number and sensitivity of receptors between males and females (to elucidate the differential prevalence of certain disorders between the sexes) and as a function of other variables. Finally, researchers are also exploring the potential of corticosteroids to treat disorders related to the negative consequences of stress in preclinical models. Funding: Supported by funds to MJ. Simon, University of Granada, Plan Propio-FEDER (C-SEJ-348-UGR23). 2025-12-01T08:05:03Z 2025-12-01T08:05:03Z 2024-07 conference output https://hdl.handle.net/10481/108481 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ open access Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional