A recent study published in The Journal of Neuroscience sheds new light on how serotonin, a neurotransmitter often linked to mood regulation, influences reward anticipation and value encoding in the brain. Researchers found that serotonin is released not only when rewards are consumed but also in response to cues that predict rewards. This release is finely tuned to the subjective value of the reward, showing a higher response to more desirable rewards. These findings help clarify the role of serotonin in reward-related brain processes, a subject previously dominated by research on dopamine. F…