Sky diving was a very cool experience, and I suspect some more may be in my future (and yes, that's me jumping out at 10,000 feet).... But let's ask the question: why would anyone want to jump out of a flying plane, at 10,000 feet of altitude? The answer, of course, is complex. However, we do know something about the brain's reward circuitry. The reward centre of the brain (ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens, and others) are a part of the brain that functions to make an individual survive, and reward the person when he or she does something good for survival. Typically, this is sex or food, that kind of thing. Cells in this part of the brain talk to each other by releasing a chemical called dopamine. So whenever you do something good for survival, dopamine gets released in the reward centre, making a person "feel good", and that much more likely to repeat the behaviour that caused the release of dopamine in the first place.
Incidently, novel activities cause the releas of dopamine in that part of the brain. So we enjoy doing things that are new and different. We don't want to overload that system, but novelty is something we appreciate.
Drugs of addiction are addictive because they stimulate that part of the brain: they potentiate (increase) the release of dopamine in the reward centre. So drugs of addiction take over the control of a portion of the brain designed to reward an animal for certain behaviours. It's easy to see how such drugs become addictive: the brain "feels good" each time you take them and makes the person much more likely to repeat the behaviour (i.e. drug taking) that caused the release of dopamine in that part of the brain.
It turns out that some people are less sensitive to dopamine in that area of the brain. Some people have "mutant" D4DR dopamine receptors. By the way, this is not unusual in and of itself: we all have different varieties of different genes in our body - if we didn't, we would all be clones and look identical. However, what has been observed is that people who have the mutat D4DR receptor in the brain tend to score higher on sensation-seeking personality traits (Note: this is not a necessary relationship, it's only a "more likely" type of a relationship). In otherwords, we have noted a correlation between the "adrenaline junky" personality type and havingD4DR receptors in the brain. If you take a moment, you will realize that this makes sense. If you brain is a little insensitive to dopamine, it will take a larger stimulation for your brain to respond to the dopamine release. So a person with a D4DR dopamine receptor needs to experience "stronger sensations" to "fell as good" as a person with the "normal" version of the dopamine receptor to feel.
Incindently, people who score high on the novelty-seeking trait tend to also have a greater likelihood of developing a drug addiction. Part of the reason is that they are simply more likely to try the drug in the first place. Part of the reason is that if they have a brain that is insensitive to dopamine (D4DR receptors) , and they have access to a chemical that is likely to stimulate their brain to levels comparable to what other people experience daily for doing "simple" activities such as eating food and having sex. So in effect, these people are more likely to use drugs of addiction because it allows them to regulate ther dopamine levels and experience "feeling good" to levels comparable to those of controls. That's the theory, anyways.
Based on my past history of SCUBA diving and now sky diving, I suspect I have D4DR receptors in my brain. This is only a guess, based on the noted association between personality trait and dopamine receptor type. I don't know for sure.
If you want to see how you score on this persoanlity trait, you can take this Sensation-Seeking quiz at the BBC website. Obviously, this is not an "official" study of your brain, this is for recreational purposes only.
For those of you out here without this trait, I leave you with this video of my jump... Live vicariously through me!
Drugs of addiction are addictive because they stimulate that part of the brain: they potentiate (increase) the release of dopamine in the reward centre. So drugs of addiction take over the control of a portion of the brain designed to reward an animal for certain behaviours. It's easy to see how such drugs become addictive: the brain "feels good" each time you take them and makes the person much more likely to repeat the behaviour (i.e. drug taking) that caused the release of dopamine in that part of the brain.
It turns out that some people are less sensitive to dopamine in that area of the brain. Some people have "mutant" D4DR dopamine receptors. By the way, this is not unusual in and of itself: we all have different varieties of different genes in our body - if we didn't, we would all be clones and look identical. However, what has been observed is that people who have the mutat D4DR receptor in the brain tend to score higher on sensation-seeking personality traits (Note: this is not a necessary relationship, it's only a "more likely" type of a relationship). In otherwords, we have noted a correlation between the "adrenaline junky" personality type and havingD4DR receptors in the brain. If you take a moment, you will realize that this makes sense. If you brain is a little insensitive to dopamine, it will take a larger stimulation for your brain to respond to the dopamine release. So a person with a D4DR dopamine receptor needs to experience "stronger sensations" to "fell as good" as a person with the "normal" version of the dopamine receptor to feel.
Incindently, people who score high on the novelty-seeking trait tend to also have a greater likelihood of developing a drug addiction. Part of the reason is that they are simply more likely to try the drug in the first place. Part of the reason is that if they have a brain that is insensitive to dopamine (D4DR receptors) , and they have access to a chemical that is likely to stimulate their brain to levels comparable to what other people experience daily for doing "simple" activities such as eating food and having sex. So in effect, these people are more likely to use drugs of addiction because it allows them to regulate ther dopamine levels and experience "feeling good" to levels comparable to those of controls. That's the theory, anyways.
Based on my past history of SCUBA diving and now sky diving, I suspect I have D4DR receptors in my brain. This is only a guess, based on the noted association between personality trait and dopamine receptor type. I don't know for sure.
If you want to see how you score on this persoanlity trait, you can take this Sensation-Seeking quiz at the BBC website. Obviously, this is not an "official" study of your brain, this is for recreational purposes only.
For those of you out here without this trait, I leave you with this video of my jump... Live vicariously through me!
