Neurowissenschaftler fordern den Trend „Dopaminentgift“ mit Beweisen aus dem Vermeidungslernen heraus
Neuroscientists challenge “dopamine detox” trend with evidence from avoidance learning
Neurowissenschaftler fordern den Trend „Dopaminentgift“ mit Beweisen aus dem Vermeidungslernen heraus
Neuroscientists challenge “dopamine detox” trend with evidence from avoidance learning
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> A new study published in Current Biology sheds light on how the brain learns to avoid harmful situations, revealing that dopamine—commonly associated with pleasure and reward—also plays a flexible and complex role in helping us sidestep danger. The results suggest that dopamine **isn’t just about seeking rewards**—it also helps **shape our behavior in response to unpleasant experiences**, with implications for understanding anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
> The researchers recorded dopamine activity in two specific parts of the brain’s reward system: the core and the ventromedial shell of the nucleus accumbens. The results showed that the two brain regions processed aversive learning in distinct ways. In the ventromedial shell, dopamine levels initially surged in response to the shock itself suggesting that the ventromedial shell plays a role in early learning and in identifying when something unpleasant is about to happen.
> In contrast, the core of the nucleus accumbens showed a different pattern. The researchers found that dopamine signals in the core were especially tied to the animal’s actions, suggesting a role in guiding learned movement patterns during avoidance.
> The study also challenges popular ideas about dopamine, including the trend known as the “dopamine detox,” which suggests that **avoiding pleasurable activities can reset the brain’s reward system**. According to the researchers, this view oversimplifies dopamine’s role. “Dopamine is not all good or all bad,” said Gabriela Lopez, the study’s first author. ‘It rewards us for good things but also helps us tune into cues that signal trouble, learn from consequences and continuously adapt our learning strategies in unstable environments.
> „These responses are not only different in their sign — where in one area, dopamine goes up for something bad and, in the other area, it goes down for something bad — but we also saw that **one is important for early learning while the other one is important for later-stage learning**,”
This is the first time I’ve heard that dopamine is nuanced, I had always assumed it was only released for ‚good‘ things — that is quite eye-opening to me as someone with ADHD.
It might be simplified, but if I understand correctly, if you have a dopamine dysregulation — your brain then has a difficult time retreating from fight/flight mode as well as forming habits (of this latter part is what I always assumed until this article). It makes sense then why, like so many others with this, thrive in crisis and chaos.
It’s our default mode!
There was never any science backing dopamine detox or whatever it’s being sold as now. Lots of folks online mention doing things for the dopamine hit, and that’s just not how dopamine works
>“Commonly targeted activities include social media, video games, online shopping, sugary foods, and other forms of instant gratification.“
then I’d just be staring at the wall