Eckstrand KL, Forbes EE, Bertocci MA, et al. - Researchers sought for the neural reward regions that are associated with improved psychiatric symptoms and psychosocial function in young adults. They performed a cohort follow-up study after baseline functional MRI in 52 participants between the ages of 18 and 25 years who were experiencing psychological distress. The analysis revealed improvement in anhedonia symptoms during a 6-month period in correlation with reward activation in the left ventral striatum. The association between left ventral striatal reward activation and improvement in psychosocial function was mediated by the reduction in anhedonia. Findings thereby emphasize the possible value of greater left ventral striatum responsiveness to reward prediction error as a biomarker or potential target for novel treatments to improve the severity of anhedonia, overall mental health, and psychosocial function.