Open research questions in Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

What the literature leaves open

• The current understanding of the endogenous opioid system's role in threat processing is limited. There is a need to identify novel, tractable therapeutic targets for anxiety disorders.

  Effects of opioid antagonism on functional MRI correlates of explicit and implicit threat processing in healthy volunteers · 2026 · DOI

• The relationship between resting-state frontal theta/beta ratio and multidimensional psychological symptoms in non-clinical populations remains insufficiently understood. There is a need to identify objective markers for identifying psychological vulnerability in college students. The study aims to address this gap by examining the association between TBR and psychological symptoms in college students.

  Resting-state frontal theta/beta ratio and psychological symptoms in college students: an EEG study · 2026 · DOI

• Small sample size (Sample 1: 55 StD, 60 HC; Sample 2: 23 StD, 20 HC), - Limited to subthreshold depression, - No long-term follow-up

  The role of altered decision dynamics and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex to amygdala causal circuitry in the aberrant efficacy of emotion suppression in subthreshold depression · 2026 · DOI

• Investigate the neural mechanisms of emotional suppression in other mental disorders, - Examine the effectiveness of interventions targeting emotional suppression in StD, - Explore the relationship between emotional suppression and other cognitive processes

  The role of altered decision dynamics and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex to amygdala causal circuitry in the aberrant efficacy of emotion suppression in subthreshold depression · 2026 · DOI

• The study notes that investigating the neural correlates of RNT is challenging due to the complexity of the brain networks involved. The paper cites the need for more reliable and sensitive measures of RNT and neuroticism. The study notes that the use of fMRI and dynamic coactivation pattern analysis requires careful consideration of the analytical pipeline and the selection of appropriate parameters.

  Dynamic coactivation patterns during repetitive negative thinking: A cross-sectional fMRI study · 2026 · DOI

• Further research is needed to investigate the neural correlates of RNT in clinical populations, - Future studies should examine the effects of RNT on brain dynamics in different age groups, - Investigating the relationship between RNT and other mental health disorders could provide further insights

  Dynamic coactivation patterns during repetitive negative thinking: A cross-sectional fMRI study · 2026 · DOI

• the sample size is limited, - the sample size is half of CAN-BIND-1, - an adequate replication would require 150-180 patients, - the predictive validity of the sensory subscale remains to be confirmed in sufficiently powered independent samples

  Replication of sensory anhedonia as a predictor of escitalopram response: evidence from the NeuroPharm study · 2026 · DOI

• the need for an adequately powered replication to establish the utility of the sensory subscale, - the need to target dopaminergic or opioidergic pathways in patients with prominent baseline sensory anhedonia, - further research on the relationship between serotonergic modulation and hedonic processing in depression

  Replication of sensory anhedonia as a predictor of escitalopram response: evidence from the NeuroPharm study · 2026 · DOI

• the study only included volunteer undergraduates, - the sample size for Experiment 2 was limited to 30 women, - the study did not control for all potential confounding variables

  Distractor processing of emotional faces: behavioral and women-only fMRI findings on the perceptual load–dilution debate · 2026 · DOI

• investigating the effects of emotional faces on distractor processing in different populations, - examining the neural mechanisms underlying the load-dilution debate, - exploring the implications of the findings for attentional bias and emotional face processing

  Distractor processing of emotional faces: behavioral and women-only fMRI findings on the perceptual load–dilution debate · 2026 · DOI

• Small sample size, - Limited to unmedicated and native English speakers, - No significant associations between symptom factors and computational parameters, - Study only included individuals aged 18-60 years

  A computational approach to understanding effort-based decision-making in depression · 2025 · DOI

• Investigate the relationship between acceptance bias and symptom factors in a larger sample, - Examine the effects of medication on effort-based decision making in depressed individuals, - Explore the neural mechanisms underlying acceptance bias in depression

  A computational approach to understanding effort-based decision-making in depression · 2025 · DOI

• Participants finding it difficult to simultaneously learn about reward and effort in an interleaved design. The need to control for depression when examining anhedonia. The challenge of measuring subjective responses to rewards and effort.

  Anhedonia is associated with computational impairments in reward and effort learning in young people with depression symptoms · 2025 · DOI

• Investigating the relationship between anhedonia and effort learning in different age groups, - examining the effectiveness of interventions targeting anhedonia and effort learning, - exploring the neural mechanisms underlying anhedonia and effort learning

  Anhedonia is associated with computational impairments in reward and effort learning in young people with depression symptoms · 2025 · DOI

• The distribution of the residuals revealed that normality was seriously violated for most of the analyses. There was a risk of carry-over effects, which was mitigated by scheduling sessions at least 7 days apart. The study had to balance the need to detect a moderate effect size with the need to minimize the sample size.

  Seeing the bigger picture: endogenous opioids mediate attentional broadening after reward receipt · 2025 · DOI

• investigating the role of endogenous opioids in attentional broadening in different populations - examining the effects of different doses of naltrexone on attentional broadening - exploring the neural mechanisms underlying the mediating role of endogenous opioids in attentional broadening - studying the potential implications of the findings for mental health and stress management

  Seeing the bigger picture: endogenous opioids mediate attentional broadening after reward receipt · 2025 · DOI

• The gap in understanding the neural mechanisms underlying cognitive control impairments in MDD is addressed. Prior work has shown impaired cognitive control in adolescents with MDD, but the neural basis of this impairment is not well understood. The study aims to investigate the relationship between reward and cognitive control in adolescents with MDD.

  Behavioral and neural dysfunctions in reward-related cognitive control among adolescents with major depressive disorder · 2025 · DOI

• Further research is needed to understand the consequences and long-term effects of mTBI. Research should investigate the effects of CD and childhood mTBI on neural activation during reward processing in larger samples. Studies should examine the relationship between CD, mTBI, and reward processing in different populations.

  Neural reward processing among children with conduct disorder and mild traumatic brain injury in the ABCD study · 2025 · DOI

• The study identifies a gap in the understanding of the combined effects of conduct disorder and mild traumatic brain injury on neural reward processing. Prior research has investigated the separate effects of conduct disorder and mild traumatic brain injury on neural activation. The study aims to address this gap by investigating the combined effects of the two conditions.

  Neural reward processing among children with conduct disorder and mild traumatic brain injury in the ABCD study · 2025 · DOI

• Investigate the relationship between depressive symptoms and social evaluative feedback in different populations, - Examine the neural mechanisms underlying the processing of social evaluative feedback

  Effects of depressive symptoms on neuronal processing of social evaluative feedback and subsequent changes in expectations and self-view · 2025 · DOI

• The process of aligning and integrating social evaluative feedback in realistic interaction scenarios is lacking. There is a lack of understanding of how characteristics of depressive symptoms impact responses toward social evaluative feedback concerning the changes in expectations, changes of self-view, and the underlying neuronal responses.

  Effects of depressive symptoms on neuronal processing of social evaluative feedback and subsequent changes in expectations and self-view · 2025 · DOI

• The study did not examine the effects of psychotropic medications on motor function - The sample size was limited to 47 individuals with cMDD and 93 individuals with rMDD - The study relied on self-report and clinician ratings of psychomotor disturbance

  Visuomotor dysconnectivity as a candidate mechanism of psychomotor agitation in major depression · 2025 · DOI

• pro-cognitive interventions could be utilized to enhance attentional control in PSZ

  External cues improve visual working memory encoding in the presence of salient distractors in schizophrenia · 2024 · DOI

• The preserved ability of people with schizophrenia to use external predictive cues to guide top-down attention is unknown. It is unclear whether this ability can help people with schizophrenia encode more information in the presence of salient distractors.

  External cues improve visual working memory encoding in the presence of salient distractors in schizophrenia · 2024 · DOI

• Small sample, - Limited to healthy volunteers, - No exploration of dose-response effects

  Effects of opioid antagonism on functional MRI correlates of explicit and implicit threat processing in healthy volunteers · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

• The Unity and Diversity of Executive Functions and Their Contributions to Complex “Frontal Lobe” Tasks: A Latent Variable Analysis · Cognitive Psychology · 2000 · 12,008 citations
• A Neural Substrate of Prediction and Reward · Science · 1997 · 7,781 citations
• Conflict monitoring and cognitive control. · Psychological Review · 2001 · 5,739 citations
• Feeling and thinking: Preferences need no inferences. · American Psychologist · 1980 · 5,128 citations
• Controlled and automatic human information processing: II. Perceptual learning, automatic attending and a general theory. · Psychological Review · 1977 · 4,914 citations
• Insensitivity to future consequences following damage to human prefrontal cortex · Cognition · 1994 · 4,340 citations
• Controlled and automatic human information processing: I. Detection, search, and attention. · Psychological Review · 1977 · 3,905 citations
• The neural basis of human error processing: Reinforcement learning, dopamine, and the error-related negativity. · Psychological Review · 2002 · 3,350 citations
• Dissociating the Role of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal and Anterior Cingulate Cortex in Cognitive Control · Science · 2000 · 2,948 citations
• Is the P300 component a manifestation of context updating? · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · 1988 · 2,887 citations

Most recent work

• Multi-region coordination of evidence accumulation and decision commitment in the brain · bioRxiv · 2026
• Complementary contributions of dorsal and ventral striatum to cost-benefit vigor adaptations · bioRxiv · 2026
• The representational geometry of cognitive maps under cognitive control · bioRxiv · 2026
• Anticipated Relevance Prepares Visual Processing for Efficient Memory-Guided Selection · bioRxiv · 2026
• A single evidence accumulation process informs perceptual choices and subsequent confidence reports · bioRxiv · 2026
• Some misconceptions about scale inhibition mechanisms: A review · Desalination · 2026
• Hybrid neural–cognitive models reveal how memory shapes human reward learning · Nature Human Behaviour · 2026
• Stimulus reliability but not boundary distance manipulations violate the folded-X pattern of confidence · Cognition · 2026
• Multi-area Decision Dynamics Across Human Cortex Shape Confidence · bioRxiv · 2026
• The effects of discriminative stimuli on combined relapse: A preliminary human‐operant investigation · Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior · 2026

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