NEWS in SCIENCE
What Makes You Happy?
By A.M.
Happiness is, by definition the state of being happy. But how do we feel this emotion? According to science, our brains let off chemicals letting us know that we are feeling a certain type of emotion. The chemical that makes us happy is called, dopamine. The Dopamine chemical is let off before we get rewards for doing something good. Scientists have named this chemical, the “go-getters” of the brain.
Dopamine gets passed on from one neuron to another, now while this is happening, it mingles with messengers which then make the pathway to reward your brain. Overtime, your brain remembers the reward you get. It starts realizing that something important is about to happen which spikes your “go-getters”. Dopamine also can trigger when something bad is about to happen. Like, when you forgot to do your homework and know the consequence you’ll get from your teacher.
Your body needs to feel happy. This is how we are motivated to get things done. Dopamine is a connection to our daily motivation. According to science, there is a lot of ways you can increase your happiness to get those chemicals moving. Completing projects or boosting your diet with yogurt have shown to increase your release of chemicals in your brain.
Being happy is more than just a feeling. It involves a lot of talking between your neurons and synapses in the brain. Without the release of dopamine, you would feel no positivity, which is something we all need in life.
Lee, K., and Kevan LeeFreelance (2017, July 06). The Science of Motivation: Your Brain on Dopamine. Retrieved September 17, 2017, from http://blog.idonethis.com/the-science-of-motivation-your-brain-on-dopamine/
Please send any questions or comments to Dr. Spitzer (spitzern@marshall.edu )
Note: Any opinions expressed in these articles are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent those of Dr. Spitzer, the Department of Biological Sciences, or Marshall University.