What is dopamine and why is it important?
Dopamine, the feel-good neurotransmitter, is vital for survival, released in our brains during pleasure and reward. With rising interest in dopamine, we asked our expert psychologist to break down what dopamine is, why it’s important and how you can increase your levels.
Dr Anastasia Hronis, a clinical psychologist, lecturer and researcher at the UTS Graduate School of Health and author of The Dopamine Brain, explains how dopamine doesn't just trigger during pleasurable moments; it’s also activated when we anticipate pleasure. For instance, simply thinking about having a donut can release dopamine.
This means that dopamine not only reacts to pleasure but also motivates us to seek it out. It operates automatically and unconsciously, reinforcing positive behaviours. This was important in ancient times, when finding pleasure in eating and reproduction ensured the survival of our species.
Dopamine was discovered in 1910 by British chemists George Barger and James Ewens, and its role became clearer in 1957 thanks to Swedish neuropharmacologist Arvid Carlsson's experiments. He found that lowering dopamine levels in rabbits disrupted their movement, shedding light on conditions like Parkinson's disease.
Since Carlsson’s breakthrough, research on dopamine has expanded. It now explores its role in motivating reward-seeking behaviour, its links to conditions like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depression, and its impact on kidney function. Based on the number of research studies, dopamine is arguably one of our most important neurotransmitters.
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