I keep reading all these recreational drugs increase dopamine – the ‘feel good’ drug in the brain. So why is just injecting dopamine itself not a thing?

Question

I keep reading all these recreational drugs increase dopamine – the ‘feel good’ drug in the brain. So why is just injecting dopamine itself not a thing?

In: Biology

Answer 1

When your neurons talk to each other, they send chemicals to each other. Dopamine is one such chemical. It’s all about keeping a good balance. Imagine every time they talk, they send three letters. Drugs are used to send more or fewer letters. But adding just one additional or one less is enough to fix things. Injecting the brain with dopamine is like dropping a whole bag full of letters everywhere. That’s gonna cause confusion and information is going to stop flowing properly. It would change things too much.