Specialists studied dopamine to understand how the brain learns from positive and negative experiences.
They discovered that dopamine release in the human brain is vital for learning from both rewards and punishments.
Let's find out how it works.
What is it?
Dopamine is a special chemical in the brain that helps nerve cells communicate and influences movement, learning, and also cognition.
Although dopamine is often linked with positive emotions, specialists are also investigating its involvement in negative experiences.
How it was discovered
Scientists used a method called fast-scan cyclic voltammetry to measure dopamine levels in real-time.
During the study, participants played a computer game while specialists measured dopamine levels in the brain region involved in decision-making and also cognition.
Dopamine levels were continuously checked throughout the game as participants received rewards or punishments based on their choices.
The results highlight that dopamine plays a huge role in signaling both good and bad experiences, and it optimally facilitates learning from these outcomes.
The results also revealed that separate pathways in the brain engage the dopamine system for good and bad experiences, with slight timing differences.
Why it's important
Understanding dopamine's role may help researchers better comprehend its impact on psychiatric and neurological disorders.
These findings challenge the belief that dopamine is only associated with pleasure. It emphasizes the role of dopamine in teaching the brain and influencing behavior.
Understanding the involvement of dopamine in learning from bad experiences could lead to new research directions for better understanding conditions like depression, substance abuse, and other related disorders.
Previously, we talked about Asperger syndrome.
