Remember that feeling of opening a birthday card and seeing a crisp $20 note fall out? Why did your brain do that? It’s just a piece of plastic with no actual physical benefit, right? Well, it all comes down to a little molecule called Dopamine.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter. These are naturally occurring chemicals that play a key role in transferring information across the body. Dopamine, in particular, is responsible for our sense of pleasure and reward. Whether it be listening to your favourite music or enjoying a delicious meal, your brain interprets these activities as enjoyable and releases dopamine which activates a particular part of the brain known as the striatum. Activation of the striatum is what we recognise as pleasure. When completing a task or achieving a goal, dopamine is there to give you a pat on the back for a job well done. Dopamine also plays a massive role in motivation. If your brain determines that doing something won’t produce high levels of dopamine, you feel less inclined to do it.
Some things release more dopamine and leave our brain wanting more. This is an addiction. Our brain becomes used to high levels of dopamine and begins to reduce the production of dopamine and associated dopamine receptors. Decreases in dopamine levels create a feeling of withdrawal as we need something to increase our dopamine, leading to addiction. Drugs such as cocaine and nicotine in cigarettes and vapes contain chemicals that are similar to ATP. These doppelganger molecules bind to adenosine receptors and instigate a chemical reaction to release lots of dopamine in the brain. Your brain likes to have lots of dopamine despite knowing the negative effects of the substance. This is why it’s difficult to quit. Alcohol and coffee can have similar effects. Sometimes, everyday things such as eating can develop addictive tendencies. That feeling of craving sugar after a sweet drink. That’s a mild form of addiction. As long as something is seen as rewarding, the brain will crave it. It has been recently found that anticipation actually causes higher levels of dopamine. From clickbait titles to commercials, companies often exploit this to keep you coming back for more in search of reward.
Since the dawn of humankind, we have assigned value to an object to be given in exchange for goods and services. This is the basic concept of money. While these days, it’s mostly digital, it still instals the same sense of fulfilment in its use. Spending money produces dopamine as we are receiving something that we know is enjoyable. And receiving money also produces dopamine as we are rewarded for doing something.
However, like anything that releases dopamine, we can become reliant on it for satisfaction. They say “Money makes the world go round”, and it does this with the universal currency of dopamine.
