Robin’s Reviews > The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity—and Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race > Status Update

Summary chapter 2:
- Alcohol, videogames an smoking also release dopamine
- Alcohol high comes in beginning and is higher the more quickly and strong you drink
- People try to pursue this high by keeping drinking, but after a while high fades and intoxication becomes visible (happens especially with young people)
- Smoking is interesting because it only has wanting but besides dopamine it has no effect at all

(3/3)

Summary chapter 2:
- The mind creates associations between the drugs and an other stimuli -> physical items lead to craving
- Amount of dopamine released from drugs depends on drugs an route of administration
- E.g. smoking has larger surface area than snorting so greater high
- After long period of drugs, the brain cannot naturally create dopamine -> getting clean is hard

(2/3)

Summary chapter 2:
- Mesolimbic pathway = dopamine desire circuit
- Is activated, leading to craving and wanting, by the presence of something attractive from an evolutionary standpoint (e.g. food)
- Wanting ≠ liking
- Drugs ignite un precedented amounts of dopamine in desire circuit
- This cannot be chemically satisfied because drugs have no satiety circuit

(1/3)

Summary chapter 1:
- Passionate love: dopamine driven, excitement disappears when things become familiar and new things draw our attention
- Compassionate love: H&N driven, deep and enduring satisfaction with the present reality
- People that have more dopamine struggle switching from passionate to companionate love (more bedpartners)
- H&N suppresses release testosterone so less

(2/2)

Summary chapter 1:
- The activity of the dopaminergic reward circuit is pleasure marker and manifests itself as a reaction to the unexpected, possibility, anticipation
- Dopamine responds not to reward, but to reward prediction error
- Therefore it always wants more and things we don’t have

(1/2)