Dopamine
A neurotransmitter associated with reward, motivation, and pleasure. Plays key roles in learning, movement, and anticipation of rewards.
Used in the Books
This term appears in 2 chapters:
"It was simple, almost trivial. Then something unexpected happened. The feedback loop turned positive. Tweets generated likes. Likes triggered dopamine in the tweeter's brain. Dopamine made them tweet more. More tweets generated more followers. More followers meant more likes per tweet."
"...ormones rise and fall appropriately with actual challenges, rather than being permanently elevated. Bodies return to baseline, allowing recovery. - Dopamine: Higher than under despotic rule (reward/motivation) - The neurotransmitter of motivation and reward."
Biological Context
Dopamine is released in anticipation of rewards, not just upon receiving them—it drives seeking behavior. Addiction involves dopamine pathway hijacking. Parkinson's disease results from dopamine neuron death. Dopamine also regulates movement, attention, and mood.
Business Application
Organizational dopamine: the anticipation and reward signals that motivate behavior—bonuses, recognition, progress indicators, gamification. Understanding dopamine dynamics helps design effective incentive systems.