Sapolsky on Dopamine: Not About Pleasure, But Its Anticipation

It’s ridiculous how many things Robert Sapolsky talks about beautifully. Here he’s on a roll about how dopamine drives behavior: It’s not about reward, but its anticipation. And we humans have done well — we’ve developed these splendid executive skills and planning and so on — because these big ol’ brains can maintain that anticipation for decades.

“There’s no monkey out there willing to lever press because St. Peter is down the line.”

It’s just 5 minutes. Go with it.

Dopamine Jackpot! Sapolsky on the Science of… by FORAtv

via The Dopamine Project.

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