This will be somewhat of a non-traditional talk, where I will highlight aspects of my education, training, and career that have shaped my current research interests and projects – thus offering a bit of a historical perspective. The overarching theme of my research is “individual differences in brain and behavior”, and much of the research I will present centers around individual differences in reward learning and the underlying brain circuitry. I will discuss how these differences might inform our understanding of psychopathology. I will also present some new findings that demonstrate the importance of considering individual variability in rodent models. In addition, you will hear about our recent translational efforts in attempt to study individual differences in reward learning in humans; and some exciting new directions, including an opportunity to study a new model organism.