Dopamine synapse in the brain's reward pathway. This video (updated with new voice) is available for instant download licensing here: https://www.alilamedicalmedia.com/-/galleries/all-animations/brain-and-nervous-system-videos/-/medias/cc910843-4b75-4b4b-b454-6339c39c8e01-dopamine-and-the-brain-reward-pathways-narrated-animation
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The reward system reinforces important behaviors that are essential for survival such as eating, drinking, and social interaction. For example, the reward system ensures that you reach for food when you are hungry, because you know that after eating you will feel good. In other words, it makes the activity of eating pleasurable and memorable, so you would want to do it again and again whenever you feel hungry. The brain consists of billions of neurons, or nerve cells, which communicate via chemical messages, or neurotransmitters. When a neuron is sufficiently stimulated, an electrical impulse called an action potential is generated and travels down the axon to the nerve terminal. Here, it triggers the release of a neurotransmitter into the synaptic cleft - a space between neurons. The neurotransmitter then binds to a receptor on a neighboring neuron, generating a signal in it, thereby transmitting the information to that neuron.
The major reward pathways involve transmission of the neurotransmitter DOPAMINE from the ventral tegmental area, the VTA, of the midbrain, to the limbic system and the frontal cortex. Engaging in enjoyable activities generates action potentials in dopamine-producing neurons of the VTA. This causes dopamine release from the neurons into the synaptic space. It then binds to and stimulates dopamine-receptor on the receiving neuron. This stimulation by dopamine is believed to produce the pleasurable feelings or rewarding effect. Dopamine molecules are then removed from the synaptic space and transported back in to the transmitting neuron by a special protein called dopamine-transporter.
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