AP PSYCHOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Dopamine is a neurotransmitter made in your brain. It plays a role as a “reward center” and in many body functions, including memory, movement, motivation, mood, attention and more.

Detailed explanation-2: -When exposed to a rewarding stimulus, the brain responds by increasing release of the neurotransmitter dopamine and thus the structures associated with the reward system are found along the major dopamine pathways in the brain. The mesolimbic dopamine pathway is thought to play a primary role in the reward system.

Detailed explanation-3: -Dopamine is most notably involved in helping us feel pleasure as part of the brain’s reward system. Sex, shopping, smelling cookies baking in the oven-all these things can trigger dopamine release, or a “dopamine rush.” This feel-good neurotransmitter is also involved in reinforcement.

Detailed explanation-4: -When rewarding stimuli are experienced, the dopaminergic mesolimbic system is activated which causes the release of dopamine to the targeted nuclei (Small et al. 2003; Cameron et al. 2014). The ventral striatum, including the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), is a major substrate involved in reward (Marche et al.

Detailed explanation-5: -The mesolimbic dopamine pathway mediates the psychopharmacology of reward, whether that is a natural high or a drug-induced high, and is sometimes referred to as the pleasure center of the brain, with dopamine as the pleasure neurotransmitter.