Dr. Anna Lembke

So dopamine is a chemical that we make in our brain. It has many different functions, but one of its most important functions is that it helps us experience pleasure, reward, and motivation. It may be even more important for the motivation to do things than it is for the pleasure itself.

So dopamine is a chemical that we make in our brain. It has many different functions, but one of its most important functions is that it helps us experience pleasure, reward, and motivation. It may be even more important for the motivation to do things than it is for the pleasure itself.

So, for example, there's a very famous experiment in which rats were engineered to have no dopamine in the brain's reward pathway. And the scientists discovered that if they put food in the rat's mouth, the rat would eat the food, would seem to get some pleasure from the food, if you can determine that from watching a rat eat, which I think they felt like they could.

So, for example, there's a very famous experiment in which rats were engineered to have no dopamine in the brain's reward pathway. And the scientists discovered that if they put food in the rat's mouth, the rat would eat the food, would seem to get some pleasure from the food, if you can determine that from watching a rat eat, which I think they felt like they could.

But if you put the food even a body length away, the rat will starve to death. The idea being that without dopamine, we're not motivated to seek out the things that we need for our basic survival.

But if you put the food even a body length away, the rat will starve to death. The idea being that without dopamine, we're not motivated to seek out the things that we need for our basic survival.

Yeah, essentially. Maybe it's not an inch. Maybe it's a little more than an inch. But the idea being that dopamine is necessary to be motivated to do the work to get the thing that we need.

Yeah, essentially. Maybe it's not an inch. Maybe it's a little more than an inch. But the idea being that dopamine is necessary to be motivated to do the work to get the thing that we need.

having a basic understanding of how dopamine works, how we process pleasure and pain, and also what happens with dopamine as we go from adaptive recreational use to maladaptive addictive use is something that is really useful, especially for those of us living in the modern world, where now we're exposed to so many reinforcing substances and behaviors that we've all become vulnerable to the problem of addiction.

having a basic understanding of how dopamine works, how we process pleasure and pain, and also what happens with dopamine as we go from adaptive recreational use to maladaptive addictive use is something that is really useful, especially for those of us living in the modern world, where now we're exposed to so many reinforcing substances and behaviors that we've all become vulnerable to the problem of addiction.

the main misconception is that somehow we can get addicted to dopamine. We're not getting addicted to dopamine itself. Dopamine is neither good nor bad. It's a signal to tell us whether or not something that we're doing is potentially useful for our survival. And also, it's related to what we predicted about how rewarding or pleasurable something would be.

the main misconception is that somehow we can get addicted to dopamine. We're not getting addicted to dopamine itself. Dopamine is neither good nor bad. It's a signal to tell us whether or not something that we're doing is potentially useful for our survival. And also, it's related to what we predicted about how rewarding or pleasurable something would be.

And so it's really, you know, I sort of sometimes I joke it's like the reward theory of relativity, dopamine is, in the sense that pleasure and pain really are truly relative to one another. And so dopamine gives us information about where we are in that relativity scale between pleasure and pain.

And so it's really, you know, I sort of sometimes I joke it's like the reward theory of relativity, dopamine is, in the sense that pleasure and pain really are truly relative to one another. And so dopamine gives us information about where we are in that relativity scale between pleasure and pain.

Yes, that's what I'm describing. Yes.

Yes, that's what I'm describing. Yes.

Well, probably almost everything in some ways. I mean, every time we are doing something that's pleasurable, reinforcing, rewarding, that will affect dopamine. It's really the primary signal that lets us know that this thing is potentially important for our survival, as I mentioned. But even aversive stimuli can trigger dopamine. What's aversive? Something that's painful or not pleasurable.

Well, probably almost everything in some ways. I mean, every time we are doing something that's pleasurable, reinforcing, rewarding, that will affect dopamine. It's really the primary signal that lets us know that this thing is potentially important for our survival, as I mentioned. But even aversive stimuli can trigger dopamine. What's aversive? Something that's painful or not pleasurable.

Dopamine gets involved in that equation. Anything that's novel or new is something that triggers our dopamine in our reward pathway more. Dopamine is fundamental for movement, so not just pleasure and reward, but also movement.

Dopamine gets involved in that equation. Anything that's novel or new is something that triggers our dopamine in our reward pathway more. Dopamine is fundamental for movement, so not just pleasure and reward, but also movement.