Here’s a little postscript. Some of you have questioned the liking vs. wanting paradigm, because these states are imputed by the experimenter. Where’s the evidence that the rat is actually feeling liking — or not feeling it, as was the case with the salt-delivery lever? Who’s to say what rats are feeling, anyway? I mean […] (Read the rest.)

I want to start unraveling the talks I heard, beginning with Kent Berridge’s talk. If you haven’t been following this blog or read my book, here’s some background: Berridge has made two major contributions to the study of addiction. The first is the idea that “wanting” and “liking” are independent neural systems. Wanting (or craving, […] (Read the rest.)

Hi you guys! I finally got back here to Holland last week. It’s good to be back. Isabel and I really missed each other and made up for lost time before she picked up the kids and I crashed out. She left for France two days later — for meetings with colleagues. (yeah, right!) The […] (Read the rest.)

Just finished day 1 at the Mind and Life conference. What a beautiful building this is for a conference. The corridors seem to echo with the shuffling feet of Christian monks. But now, in our modern age, there are a lot of shaven-headed guys with orange robes walking around. It’s strange to see them in […] (Read the rest.)

I’m still half asleep, and I should do some yoga and I should meditate and I should put something more than coffee down my throat. But I wanted to share my  excitement and anxiety about the steps leading to my October visit with the Dalai Lama. It all starts in a week. I fly to […] (Read the rest.)