Psychopharmacology, Neurotransmission, and Lateralization
A group for discussing the lateralizing effects of drugs and neurotransmitters and their implications... View more
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Dopamine, Mania, Reward System Abnormalities, and Wanting
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Dopamine, Mania, Reward System Abnormalities, and Wanting
Dr. McGilchrist mentions in ‘the Master and His Emissary’ that mania is associated with left hemisphere over-activation, and dopamine is strongly associated with both of them.
He also characterizes the LH as the hemisphere that ‘craves novelty and stimulation’, something that tends to conjure up images of people staring blankly into slot machines while they sip bourbon and chain smoke.
He also links the cultural shift that occurred during the Enlightenment to the conflation of happiness with pleasure, and pleasure seeking is of course strongly tied to dopamine.
In his contrast of longing and wanting, he repeatedly associates the LH with wanting.
Thus, if we wanted to look into the neurophysiology of wanting, then it would make sense to look at the reward system, which is largely mediated by dopamine.
When I have time, I’ll post some studies and thoughts here that make connections between wanting, addiction, dopamine, reward system dysregulation, mania, hedonism, and the more disturbing trends in our modern culture that reflect our increasing adhesion to the left hemisphere’s view of reality.
This should be a fun one.
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