If you've experienced a jolt of excitement when your phone buzzes, a rush from seeing a new parking space open up, or a flutter of hope before good news lands, you've experienced dopamine at work.
“Dopamine is the good feeling that you’re about to get a reward,” explains Loretta Graziano Breuning, a professor emerita at California State University, East Bay, and author of Habits of a Happy Brain.
Beyond anticipation, dopamine also helps reward us after beneficial behaviors such as eating, connecting with others, or accomplishing goals. In this way, “dopamine contributes greatly to our motivation to do things," says Jacquie Olds, associate professor of clinical psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
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More specifically, it's produced in two neighboring regions called the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and the substantia nigra. Smaller amounts are also produced in the adrenal glands above the kidneys.
When dopamine is released in these brain regions, it creates a powerful “surge of wanting,” says Kent Berridge, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Michigan. That surge is what motivates you to start something and why you're glad you followed through once you do.
Read the complete article at National Geographic
