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Dopamine: Produces the Rush, Not the Pleasure

The "it" neurotransmitter stimulates drive, not good feeling

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 27, 2009 10:23 AM CDT
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(Newser) – Dopamine has become the decade’s “it” neurotransmitter, just as serotonin was in the ‘90s. But the popular image of dopamine as the brain chemical in charge of making us feel good, and hooking us on craving that feeling, a “Bacchus in the brain,” is misleading and incomplete, writes Natalie Angier of the New York Times. New research has led to the emerging consensus that dopamine is less about pleasure than about motivation.

“When you can’t breathe, and you’re gasping for air, would you call that pleasurable? Or when you’re so hungry that you eat something disgusting?” says one researcher. Yet in those instances dopamine pathways are at defcon 1. They’ll fire over something we desire, yes, but also over something we fear. And they serve another, lesser known function: They're novelty detectors. Whenever something around you is unusual or otherwise demands attention, dopamine makes sure you spot it. “You might not notice a fly in the room, but if that fly was fluorescent, your dopamine cells would fire,” she adds.

A dopamine molecule
A dopamine molecule   (Shutterstock)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 4 comments
Unaffiliated
Oct 27, 2009 5:00 AM CDT
While you're certainly free to ask whatever question you like, you're not going to disprove evolutionary theory by asking this particular question. You set up a straw man and then easily knock it down. This is no exceptional feat of logical abilities. This is a cop out to really critically understanding evolutionary theory and posing more useful questions. Just because scientists may not have proof for evolution in 100% of biological history, an impossible standard to hold any testable hypothesis to, does not mean that evolutionary theory is incorrect.
carpenocturne
Oct 27, 2009 4:32 AM CDT
No shame in asking this question, I am equally curious. Curiosity isn't blind skepticism...
Thinker
Oct 27, 2009 4:15 AM CDT
wakeUp, please wakeup. Everything about us has evolved (whether you want to believe it or not).

 
dopamine • neurotransmitter • neurology • neurobiology • scientific research

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