Happiest of Holidays to everyone, from Kathleen in Charlotte, NC, USA. The weather is warm, and the sun is shining. The flowers (in Charlotte) are taking risks, as they poke their heads from the ground prematurely.
New research shows that people who take risks enjoy excitement and danger as a means to stimulate their minds. The new study shows that people may take risks because their brains are less responsive to excitement than normal.
Dopamine is a brain chemical that makes us feel good. When Dopamine is released in the body, we naturally experience well-being. Researchers have discovered that people who seek excitement, take risks, and act impulsively have a decreased reaction to Dopamine.
The findings are important. New Year’s resolutions are on everyone’s mind. Perhaps you have decided to tone things down a bit. Partying hard, driving fast, and reckless spending are a few of the characteristics of risk takers. Spontaneity is a good thing, but too many novel experiences can spell trouble. Now we know that excitement seekers may have little control over their behavior.
The research is published in the Journal of Neuroscience. David Zald, associate professor of psychology and lead author of the study at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development, explains, “We’ve found that the density of these dopamine autoreceptors is inversely related to an individual’s interest in and desire for novel experiences.”
Scientists have long known that Dopamine plays a big role in how we perceive rewards from food, drugs, sex and rock and roll, to name a few. People who use drugs such as Cocaine and Amphetamines have been shown to have a decrease in Dopamine receptors. The latest research seeks to find out if the same applies to novelty seeking personalities in general.
The study required answering questions about how easy it is to spend money freely, decision making speed; including queries about spontaneity in behavior, and how likely the respondents were to “follow the rules”. The higher the score, the more likely the person was to be a risk taker, seeking novelty experiences as a reward.
The researchers found that those with higher scores had less Dopamine receptors than their counter-parts with lower scores. They used brain scans to find out why some people might be more prone take risks than others, studying 34 individuals.
We all know that taking risks can lead to good things, but too much pleasure seeking behavior can harm us as well as those we love.
How do you collect your own thrills? Do you have any resolutions or revelations about your own behaviors for the New Year? Raise your hand if your were born to be wild.
Source: Risk takers seek thrills to compensate for less responsive brain
Hiya Katheleen and heres to those flowers making it through!
Dopamine Jim here
My last hit was throwing myself of the worlds highest bungeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee jump in South Africa – 218 m ….gulp.
Good one Jim. I have never tried that. Skydiving next?