Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, plus a single nitrogen atom—it is simple in form and complex in result. This is dopamine, and it narrates no less than the story of human behavior.
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Each one of us has a unique way of moving. We’re usually unaware of these habits, but other people see them. Often we recognize our friends from a distance based on how they move, even when we can’t see their faces. The way we move is part of what defines us.
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A Harvard study that’s been going on for seventy-four years has found that social isolation (even in the absence of feelings of loneliness) is associated with a 50 to 90 percent higher risk of early death. That’s about the same as smoking, and higher than obesity or lack of exercise.
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As a species we have become far more powerful than we were when our brains first developed. Technology develops fast while evolution is slow. Our brains evolved at a time when survival was in doubt. That’s less of a problem in the modern world, but we’re stuck with our ancient brains.
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Future-focused dopamine no longer drives couples to have children because people who live in developed countries don’t depend on their children to support them in their old age. Government-funded retirement plans take care of that. That frees up dopamine to move on to other things like TVs, cars, and remodeled kitchens.
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Dopamine was discovered in the brain in 1957 by Kathleen Montagu
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dopamine activity is not a marker of pleasure. It is a reaction to the unexpected—to possibility and anticipation.
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Sweat is salt water, which conducts electricity better than dry skin. The more aroused a person is, the easier the electricity flows.
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Conservatives are more likely than liberals to focus on threat. At the same time, when people of either inclination feel threatened, they become more conservative.
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Dopamine, they discovered, isn’t about pleasure at all.