For anyone who wants to learn something about brain chemistry and how it affects habits, obessions, and addictions, there is a book,
Memoirs of an Addicted Brain. The author used many different drugs, became addicted and then after arduous recovery, has become a neuroscientist.
The book is a gripping story and a great introduction to neurology and neurochemistry.
One thing Dr Lewis shows us is how dopamine is linked to craving/seeking/hunting behavior. We are most likely to get dopamine rushes when we have a likelihood of getting something but have not yet gotten hold of it.
All too often, when we get what we have sought, the dopamine fizz wears off and things go flat. We get that "
Is that all there is?" feeling.
Dopamine is what fuels that craving/pink cloud feeling we get when in love, whether with a person or a grand cause or crusade. Hence the constant pressure to meet recruitment goals, meet standards of behavior, meet goals that are unattainable.
Blog | Memoirs of an Addicted Brain
www.memoirsofanaddictedbrain.com/blog/
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In his book, Dr Lewis also describes the role that the neurotransmitter norephinephrine plays in sustaining alertness.
An LGAT set up would innundate subjects with all sorts of stimuli meant to keep them alert.
Depleting serotonin leaves people raw, impressionable, and vulnerable to depression.
Turns out norephinephrine seems important in bipolar disorders.
[
www.emedicinehealth.com]