"Greedy Dopamine" Reading Notes Chapter 2 Drug 1, Dopamine Desire Circuit: Ventral midbrain cells in the cover area, through the brain to reach the nucleus accumbens, when the cells are activated, release dopamine, production

Greedy Dopamine Reading Notes

Chapter II: Drugs

1. Dopamine desire circuit: midbrain cells in the ventral cover area, passing through the brain to reach the nucleus accumbens, releasing dopamine when the cells are activated, generating the motivation to do something;

2) An important task of dopamine is to serve as an early warning system to alert us to anything that helps us survive; dopamine prompts us to get it now, whether we like it or not, or whether we need it now.

3) Dopamine makes us passionately want to get something, and a journey full of hope is happier than reaching a destination;

4, want and like: what motivates us to "want" is the desire circuit, relying on dopamine; "like" depends on the same chemicals as to promote the long-term satisfaction of companion love, they are endorphins and endocannabinoids.

5. In the natural state, by eliminating accidents and eliminating reward prediction errors, dopamine will fall silent.

6) Drugs ignite the raging fire of the dopamine system in unnatural ways, and there is only a desire for "more", and this desire is torturous. Regardless of the drug user's situation, the drug stimulates the release of dopamine. As a result, the brain becomes confused and begins to associate drug use with everything. It doesn't take long for the brain to believe that drugs can solve all of life's problems.

7, alcohol can promote the release of dopamine, bringing a feeling of excitement; the speed of alcohol into the brain determines how excited the drinker's feelings are, and the degree of drunkenness is determined by the total amount of alcohol, not the speed of drinking.

8, nicotine can stimulate more dopamine release, it has no other effect than to make you addicted (does not bring excitement or intoxication). The main effect of smoking is to reduce cravings, so that people experience happiness, just like a person who holds a stone all day, and finally feels relaxed when he finally puts down the stone.

9, desire is nourished by chemical molecules to make people addicted. The system responsible for telling us what we like or dislike is small and fragile, far from matching the primordial power of the dopaminergic impulse. The feeling of longing becomes irresistible and uncontrollable, regardless of whether the object of longing is something we really care about, whether it is good for us, or whether it has the potential to kill us. Addiction is not a sign of a weak personality or lack of willpower, it is simply what happens when the desire circuit enters a pathological state due to overstimulation.