Dopamine
The centre of reward and motivation
Summary
Dopamine is our brain's "reward" chemical. It is released when we eat a delicious meal, achieve something or play a game, giving us pleasure and motivating us to repeat that behaviour.
In depth
Dopamine is a catecholamine made from the amino acid tyrosine that works as both a neurotransmitter and a neurohormone. It sits at the centre of the brain's mechanisms of reward, motivation, pleasure and movement control. Disruptions in the dopamine system are involved in addiction (to drugs, gambling and more), while a loss of dopamine-producing cells causes severe movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease.
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