Is Dopamine Necessary for Pleasure? December 7, 2005

New reesearch conducted at the University of Washington indicates that dopamine may not be necessary for the brain to experience pleasure.

The study, published in Nature, contradicts previously unsubstantiated claims that purpoted to link dopamine to pleasure. A number of questionable studies, some by individuals with no training in biology or neuroscience, have linked dopamine release with pleasurable experiences such as sex and love.

In the current study, Thomas Hnasko and colleagues administered morphine to dopamine-deficient mice so as to link feelings of pleasure to a particular location in the environment. They then measured how frequently the mice returned to that specific location.

Although lacking the ability to synthesize dopamine, the rats spent a significantly longer amount of time in the location associated with the doses of morphine.

Thus the ability to experience pleasure such as induced by morphine, is not dependent on dopamine.