Benefiting at work from Brain Based Insights

When you hear people stutter, they are likely getting bombarded with too much dopamine into basal ganglia areas that control language, researchers tell us.

Too much can also cause compulsive behavior, also. So why not simply reduce dopamine through drugs that counter its effects?  It’s not that easy, since too little dopamine adds to boredom, and causes lack of motivation. 

Researchers emphasize that when it comes to dopamine, the emphasis must be on what mix works best for people. What may be too much for one person, can be too little for another. Dopamine levels affect your brain and business more than most people realize.

American Academy of Neurology recently reported that dopamine also determines affect how people react to success and failure.  At the American Academy of Neurology's 59th Annual Meeting in Boston.

Researchers gauged how dopamine affects the striatum, an area of the brain which is stimulated by rewards.

The Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging in London, engaged 39 healthy people between the ages of 18 and 39. Participants who took levodopa were 95%  more likely to choose symbols associated with higher monetary gains than those who took haloperidol. As a result, the levodopa group won more money, but they did not lose less money.

Researchers found that dopamine drugs drive people to get what we want, but not to avoid what they fear, according to Mathias Pessiglione, from the Salpetriere Hospital in Paris.

Findings at the  American Academy of Neurology  may show why dopamine depletion leads to the lack of motivation often described in people. It also shows the flip side of this drug - which can cause compulsive behaviors, such as overeating and gambling addictions.

What do you think?