![]() ![]() In fact, studies show that over time, people can end up not liking the activities that trigger big surges in dopamine. “That’s relatively irrelevant to dopamine,” Samaha says. That’s what dopamine does.”Īnd here’s the surprising part: You might not even like the activity that triggers the dopamine surge. “So you should stay here, close to this thing, because there’s something here for you to learn. It’s alerting you to something important, Samaha says. It’s all about motivation.Īnd it goes even further: Dopamine tells your brain to pay particular attention to whatever triggers the surge. A surge of dopamine in your brain makes you seek out something, she explains. “Dopamine makes you want things,” Samaha says. Instead, studies now show that dopamine primarily generates another feeling: desire. “In fact, there’s a lot of data to refute the idea that dopamine is mediating pleasure,” says Samaha. Pop psychology has dubbed dopamine the “molecule of happiness.”īut over the past decade, research indicates dopamine does not make you feel happy. That, when dopamine levels increase, you feel the sensation of ‘liking’ whatever you’re doing and savoring this pleasure,” Samaha says. “There’s this idea, especially in the popular media, that dopamine increases pleasure. So water, safety, social interactions, sex, food,” says neuroscientist Anne-Noël Samaha at the University of Montreal.įor decades, scientists thought dopamine drew us to these vital needs by providing us with something that’s not as critical: pleasure. “These mechanisms evolved in our brain to draw us to things that are essential to our survival. This is your child’s brain on cartoons (or video games or cupcakes)ĭopamine is a part of an ancient neural pathway that’s critical for keeping us alive. They can also cause much conflict between parents and children. ![]() They shape our habits, our diets, our mental health and how we spend our free time. Although drugs cause much bigger spikes of dopamine than, say, social media or an ice cream cone, these smaller spikes still influence our behavior, especially in the long run. Turns out, smartphones and sugary foods do have something in common with drugs: They trigger surges of a neurotransmitter deep inside your brain called dopamine. Personally, I call the strategy “anti-dopamine parenting” because the ideas come from learning how to counter a tiny, powerful molecule that’s essential to nearly everything we do. And that understanding offers powerful insights into how parents can better manage and limit these activities. In the past few years, neuroscientists have started to better understand what’s going on in kids’ brains (and adult brains, too) while they’re streaming cartoons, playing video games, scrolling through social media, and eating rich, sugar-laden foods. I do that because they give me pleasure, right?)īut what if those assumptions are wrong? What if my daughter’s reactions aren’t a sign of loving the activity or the food? And that, in fact, over time she may even come to dislike these activities despite her pleas to continue? (To be honest, I feel the same way about my own “addictions,” like checking social media and email more than a hundred times a day. And thus, I felt really guilty about taking these pleasures away from her. I assumed that they brought her immense joy and pleasure. Given these intense reactions to screens and sweets, I assumed that my daughter loves them. But Mama, after this one show … but Mama … but Mama … but Mama.” And as she grew older, another craving set in: cartoons on my computer.Įvery night, when it was time to turn off the screen and get ready for bed, I would hear an endless stream of “But Mamas.” “But Mama, just five more minutes. She had the same reaction to cupcakes and ice cream at birthday parties. “You can’t even show it to her without causing a tantrum.” WASHINGTON (NPR) - Back when my daughter was a toddler, I would make a joke about my phone: “It’s a drug for her,” I’d say to my husband. ![]() ‘Anti-dopamine parenting’ can curb a kid’s craving for screens or sweets ![]()
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