Life is good. Humans are biologically wired to respond to life’s pleasures. Primary rewards like food, sex, and social connection are naturally valuable because they are essential for the survival of one’s self and offspring. Other rewards, like drugs and money, hijack the same neural circuits causing similar pleasurable responses. I have always found people’s response to and experience of rewards fascinating. Early in my career, I researched responses to drug, sex and food reward using animal models. Later, I began investigating people and their responses to rewarding foods. More recently, I expanded my research to explore social connection. Social connection is not just rewarding, it is critically linked to our well-being. My research characterizes social connection and its outcomes in order to improve individual well-being and success especially in the context of teaching and learning.
