People often want what they like, and vice versa. However, the common sense is inconsistent with findings on reward-related disorders. For example, some patients suffering from depression and schizophrenia show intact hedonic responses to pleasurable stimuli but are less willing to expend efforts for rewards. Drug addiction is characterized by an excessive craving for drugs but rarely is companied by comparable hedonic responses. Individuals with some forms of eating disorders have normal levels of wanting but reduced levels of liking. These clinical observations indicate that reward is not a homogenous construct but consists of two mainly successive phases, anticipation and consummation, as it unfolds over time.

Although the dissociation between reward anticipation and consummation is well established in seminal animal modes, it has been difficult in humans without pharmacological manipulation employed in animal studies. The main purpose of this Research Topic is to portrait the temporal dynamics of reward processing in humans in terms of self-report, behavioral, or neural changes. By characterizing this issue, we may better inform more targeted prevention and intervention of reward-related disorders.

To achieve this goal, we solicit submissions that are broadly related to the following themes:
- How are reward anticipation and consummation modulated by reward parameters, including valence, magnitude, probability, and time?
- What is the relationship between behavioral and neural changes underlying reward anticipation and reward consummation?
- Whether reward anticipation and consummation can be further decomposed into distinct substages, each with different functional significance?
- How does individual difference influence the temporal dynamics of reward processing, such as gender, personality trait, especially the multiple forms of psychopathology as diverse as depression, schizophrenia, and addiction?
- How do reward anticipation and consummation interact with cognitive processes such as perception, attention, and response preparation?

We welcome original research, reviews, and meta-analyses that highlight the overlapping and dissociable aspects between anticipatory and consummatory phases of reward processing.

Keywords: Reward, Anticipation, Consummation, Temporal dynamics, Individual difference

Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.