Dopamine and Disappointments

Although people tend to think that dopamine is the brain’s “pleasure” chemical, it’s actually far more complicated. Dopamine has many functions, including having a hand in regulating movement and motivation, but the one that’s most relevant here is its role in linking actions, experiences, people, and environments to pleasure — and pushing us to re-create those circumstances in pursuit of the same result. Basically, certain dopamine systems attempt to predict what’s rewarding, and then motivate us to seek it. For this to work, however, the brain must generate expectations about the future.

And this, of course, can be a setup for disappointment. Here’s what happens: The first time someone experiences an unexpected reward — let’s say a co-worker has left chocolates on your desk — your dopamine levels rise, you feel happier, and your brain associates the desk and the fact that it’s Tuesday and lots of other coincidental experiences with getting yummy candy. The next time those factors coincide, you expect chocolate and your dopamine goes up. But when you don’t get it, sadly, your dopamine levels drop back down.

Researchers call this a “reward prediction error” — your dopamine systems use your past experience to predict what will make you feel best. And when that fails, it hits doubly hard: Not only do you not get what you wanted, but you also feel the displeasure of having been wrong, and the associated dopamine drop. Losing hurts even worse, in other words, when it’s not what you were expecting — a neurological explanation for something that so many people already know too well.

Adapted from the Science of Us article by Maia Szalavitz
Good night, everyone!
Christopher Knox Oakey II
November the 13th
Anno Domini MMXVI

Introduction

Salve, everyone (Latin for hello.) I am very excited to share in this blog any knowledge that I learn daily. I expect to post about every day, with sporadic absences. The intention of this blog is to share knowledge, as I mentioned. Posts will range from chemistry to astronomy to cooking! Thank you, everyone, for giving me the grace of reading this blog.
That said, Scientia In Aeternum!
-Christopher Knox Oakey II
P.S. That's Latin as well. As a little homework, search online for the translation if you want.
P.P.S. The title of this blog is Latin as well. You can translate that if you want, and I'm just joking with what I wrote (Did you really think I was that egotistical?)
P.P.P.S. In the spirit of this blog, did you know that P.S. Is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase "post scriptum", literally "thing having been written afterward"? And I suppose that means that P.P.S. Is "post post scriptum", a duplication of P.S.