Overview

 

 

Imagine you are reading a newspaper article while abroad on holiday. It is interesting but does not consume very much of your functional attention. Now, imagine you see your name in the article. That immediate shift in both attention and focus is caused by a chemical called dopamine, the primary catecholamine chemical that fuels our ambition. However, with over 110,000 research papers written on the brain chemical within the past 60 years, the full functionality of the neurotransmitter remains a source of controversy among the neuroscientist community. Despite this, here are some generally agreed views on this very complex chemical.

 

Dopamine  as a Pathway to Inner Drive

Dopamine is the key neurotransmitter involved in both the good and bad aspects of the "Reward Pathway" of motivation. Dopamine essentially is motivation. It's the neurochemical synonym for inner-drive, and a powerful tool used by the brain to reinforce repeat behaviour. This form of dopaminergic manipulation is often referred to as the Reward Pathway, or the pleasure pathway, due to the pleasurable outcome of dopamine release, which occurs under a variety of circumstances:

•     Solving a problem or learning something new
•     Entering or engaging new ideas, territories, etc.
•     Eating or drinking something tasty
•     Smoking cigarettes or doing drugs

 

This variety illustrates the good and bad aspects of the Reward Pathway.

 

Simply put, more positive behaviours (e.g., learning new information, engaging new ideas, etc.) are more likely to occur when the brain's Reward Pathway is well-stocked with dopamine and dopamine receptors. Whereas dopamine deficiency (and/or dopamine receptor deficiency) increases the likelihood of seeking easy, unhealthy "fixes" of dopamine release (e.g., junk food, drugs, procrastination and excessive time spent on social media etc.)