From all the talks we have had this semester, Dr. Steidl’s talk striked me
the most. Having studied the effects of presence of incentives on people’s
decisions in a Psychology research course, his talk was really interesting. Dr.
Steidl explained the effects of rewards and incentives on the brain. He
mentioned that pleasurable things, such as
drugs and sex, activate the dopamine system indirectly. Thus, they cause
production of dopamine. This could explain the phenomenon of addiction and how
one constantly craves for something that would activate the dopamine system. He
also mentioned how environmental stimuli that predict rewards activate the
dopamine system. This was really interesting.
This
idea was contrasted in the article “Why music makes our brain sing” by Robert
J. Zatorre and Valorie N. Salimpore (2013). They learned that “music that people described as highly emotional engaged
the reward system deep in their brains — activating subcortical nuclei known to
be important in reward, motivation and emotion.” (2013). Thus, the “chill”
(relaxing) phase of the music is when dopamine is released in the brain. This
complements Dr. Steidl’s talk on the dopamine system. A system that responds
naturally to drug, sex, and food can also respond to pleasurable music! This
leads to the hypothesis that most pleasurable things in life may be linked to
the dopamine system.
What was even more interesting was that the dopamine system was activated a few seconds before that “chill” peak emotional moment. Thus, the anticipation is what causes dopamine to be released. This was shown through an online music purchasing study. They found that “neural activity within the striatum — the reward-related structure — was directly proportional to the amount of money people were willing to spend.” (2013). This concurs with what Dr. Steidl explained: environmental stimuli that predict reward activate the dopamine system. Thus, music before that emotional moment or buying music predict the pleasurable experience of listening to music and releases dopamine.
Love’s
effects on dopamine system were also studied. The article “I heart
unpredictable love” by Richard Friedman (2012). During an experiment, subjects
were given fruit juice and water during an MRI scan. It was seen that the
reward system was more activated when juice and water were unanticipated than
when they were anticipated. The explanation behind the activation of dopamine
system was that “When the reward circuit fires, it also tells the brain
something like, ‘Pay attention and remember this experience because it’s
important.’ This circuit releases dopamine when stimulated, which, if it
reaches a critical level, conveys a sense of pleasure.” (2012). What’s
interesting is the dopamine system does not differ over our preference of juice
or water (i.e. one reward or another). This makes sense because the dopamine
system has evolved over time to enable us to recognize the presence of things
critical for our survival: food and a mate. Unpredictable rewards activate the
dopamine system more because people might find more pleasure in unpredictable
experience. This all complements what Dr. Steidl explained in his talk.
The
article expanded the idea to love. Being in a relationship with someone who is
unpredictably loving, the brain registers this through the dopamine system,
even if we might not prefer it. This could explain “the paradox of people who
complain constantly about their unreliable lovers, but keep coming back to
them, time and again… They might be addicted to the hidden pleasure of
inconstant love.” (2012). This was really interesting and served as a basis for
a phenomenon we all feel guilty about.
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