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There's nothing like the feeling of being in love - your heart pounds, you feel floaty, and everything seems just awesome. Unfortunately, if you're relying on another person to give you that loving feeling, you're bound to be disappointed. At some point they'll let you down, break your heart, or just go away for the weekend and leave you feeling bereft and alone. That's why we've come up with 10 ways to unleash the "love hormone" oxytocin in your brain, without all that bother of romancing an actual human. More »
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German scientists have discovered that a variation in a certain gene corresponds with a greater propensity to give money to charitable causes. The researchers looked for variants of the COMT gene, which is involved with the release of dopamine. More »
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Men are up to twice as likely to become alcoholics than women, and a new study indicates that this propensity may be tied to dopamine production. Researchers found that men's brains are hardwired to release more dopamine when consuming booze. More »
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Having an impulsive personality means that you jump into situations without thinking through the consequences. Now scientists think they can see "impulsiveness" at work in the brain - and it looks a lot like potential drug addiction. More »
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Dopamine is infamous as a pleasure-inducing brain chemical: It's the neurotransmitter released when you smoke a cigarette or snort cocaine. But a new study published today shows that dopamine is also key to keeping people terrified for long periods. More »
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People who are sleep-deprived often report getting a "second wind" where they suddenly wake up and feel great — though they are still too fatigued to do any major problem-solving. A group of researchers have discovered there's a good reason for this. Sleep deprivation floods your brain with dopamine, the very same hormone that amphetamines like crystal meth shoot into your neural receptors. More »
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It turns out the gateway drug for amphetamine addiction is a substance provided by your own brain. The culprit protein is called DAT, so named because it is a dopamine transporter — and dopamine is the feel-good, get-motivated neurotransmitter that keeps you happy, hungry, and full of energy. Just as some people are born with the ability to grow larger muscle mass than others, some are born with the ability to squirt more dopamine into their brains because they have a greater-than-average helping of DAT. People with elevated DAT levels are quite literally better at getting high than people with average levels. How do we know? A group of researchers in North Carolina and Pennsylvania recently bred a group of mice to have DAT levels three times above normal and then gave them speed. Here's what happened. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=371649&view=rss&microfeed=true A new study reveals that people with addictive personalities also tend to have highly-developed "impulsivity" structures in their brains. Often their impulsive behaviors — and thus their tendencies to eat a zillion drugs — can be curbed with a little dopamine boost. Will we be seeing dopamine-primers and enhancers hitting the market for drug addicts? [Eurekalert] More »
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