The learning process is a powerful pleasure. A statement that is familiar to many. A series of experiments with humans and rats not only confirmed this, but also showed that the pleasure of learning can compete successfully with hard drugs.
Neurophysiologists and psychologists from the University of Nebraska have conducted two experiments with rats addicted. In the first experiment, rats were accustomed to different doses of cocaine - 7.5; 20 and 30 mg / kg, in the second - the rats were given the same dose of 10 mg / kg, but for different periods of time: 1, 14 and 28 days. In both experiments, it was tested how much the desire to learn new things can compete with the desire to get the next dose of the drug.
For this, the rats were placed in front of two rooms, in one of which they always received a dose of cocaine, and in the other, from time to time, some new object, unknown to the rats, was placed. The objects were a scythe of matter, a ball of newsprint, a plastic tube, etc. Rats could see this object and choose - to go to it and examine it, or go to another room and get a drug.
It turned out that if rats "sat" on a low dose of drugs or received an average dose for a short period of time, they most often preferred to study a new subject than to receive another dose.
After quitting smoking and alcohol, a person becomes happier - research results ...
The more the rat received drugs and the longer the term, the more likely they were to choose the room in which the drug was injected.
If the rats received the maximum dose of cocaine for a short time or 10 mg / kg for 28 days, then they could no longer even make a choice. They just sat or lay and waited for the next dose ...
These two experiments showed the most important thing - the mammalian brain can easily overcome the light and medium dependence on hard drugs, relying on the "instinct of cognition." The desire for new information is so powerfully fueled by the internal mechanisms of the brain that the pleasure of them outweighs the "chemical pleasure" ...
A partial explanation for this effect can be found in another experiment - this time with people and without drugs. Danish neuroscientists have investigated the relationship between dopamine production and a person's predisposition to learning new things.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is produced by our body and is an important part of the “reward system”, causing feelings of pleasure and satisfaction. Dopamine is naturally produced in large quantities during a positive, subjective experience of a person - for example, sex, eating tasty food, pleasant bodily sensations, or when achieving some goal set by the person himself.
MRI: reading is the best exercise for the brain ... It is also the most difficult ...
Learning new things is one of the most powerful processes in terms of the body's production of dopamine. But the amount produced is still not the same in different people. Researchers have tried to identify the relationship between the level of dopamine in the brain, places of its concentration and the psychological type of a person in situations of acquiring new knowledge.
Before starting the experiment, all participants underwent standard psychological tests. They were then presented with various tasks to gain new information and monitored the state of their brains.
It turned out that in those people who, according to preliminary tests, were among the most curious, brain scans revealed the highest level of dopamine and its greatest distribution throughout the brain during tasks.
Thus, the initial hypothesis of the researchers that people predisposed to cognition receive a stronger reinforcement in the form of dopamine production was fully confirmed. What for a person - “a researcher in life”: the process of cognition is objectively the strongest pleasure.
If we combine the two series of experiments on humans and rats, then we can make a reasonable assumption that a person who is predisposed to study, research and creativity is least susceptible to the danger of becoming a drug addict. On the other hand, it is a deliberate striving for new knowledge that can help overcome drug addiction. Although, of course, it should be remembered that all this is true within certain limits - almost nothing can overcome heavy drug addiction. Having been seduced by even a light drug, you always run the risk of sliding towards the complete destruction of the intellect and personality ...
Neurophysiologists and psychologists from the University of Nebraska have conducted two experiments with rats addicted. In the first experiment, rats were accustomed to different doses of cocaine - 7.5; 20 and 30 mg / kg, in the second - the rats were given the same dose of 10 mg / kg, but for different periods of time: 1, 14 and 28 days. In both experiments, it was tested how much the desire to learn new things can compete with the desire to get the next dose of the drug.
For this, the rats were placed in front of two rooms, in one of which they always received a dose of cocaine, and in the other, from time to time, some new object, unknown to the rats, was placed. The objects were a scythe of matter, a ball of newsprint, a plastic tube, etc. Rats could see this object and choose - to go to it and examine it, or go to another room and get a drug.
It turned out that if rats "sat" on a low dose of drugs or received an average dose for a short period of time, they most often preferred to study a new subject than to receive another dose.
After quitting smoking and alcohol, a person becomes happier - research results ...
The more the rat received drugs and the longer the term, the more likely they were to choose the room in which the drug was injected.
If the rats received the maximum dose of cocaine for a short time or 10 mg / kg for 28 days, then they could no longer even make a choice. They just sat or lay and waited for the next dose ...
These two experiments showed the most important thing - the mammalian brain can easily overcome the light and medium dependence on hard drugs, relying on the "instinct of cognition." The desire for new information is so powerfully fueled by the internal mechanisms of the brain that the pleasure of them outweighs the "chemical pleasure" ...
A partial explanation for this effect can be found in another experiment - this time with people and without drugs. Danish neuroscientists have investigated the relationship between dopamine production and a person's predisposition to learning new things.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is produced by our body and is an important part of the “reward system”, causing feelings of pleasure and satisfaction. Dopamine is naturally produced in large quantities during a positive, subjective experience of a person - for example, sex, eating tasty food, pleasant bodily sensations, or when achieving some goal set by the person himself.
MRI: reading is the best exercise for the brain ... It is also the most difficult ...
Learning new things is one of the most powerful processes in terms of the body's production of dopamine. But the amount produced is still not the same in different people. Researchers have tried to identify the relationship between the level of dopamine in the brain, places of its concentration and the psychological type of a person in situations of acquiring new knowledge.
Before starting the experiment, all participants underwent standard psychological tests. They were then presented with various tasks to gain new information and monitored the state of their brains.
It turned out that in those people who, according to preliminary tests, were among the most curious, brain scans revealed the highest level of dopamine and its greatest distribution throughout the brain during tasks.
Thus, the initial hypothesis of the researchers that people predisposed to cognition receive a stronger reinforcement in the form of dopamine production was fully confirmed. What for a person - “a researcher in life”: the process of cognition is objectively the strongest pleasure.
If we combine the two series of experiments on humans and rats, then we can make a reasonable assumption that a person who is predisposed to study, research and creativity is least susceptible to the danger of becoming a drug addict. On the other hand, it is a deliberate striving for new knowledge that can help overcome drug addiction. Although, of course, it should be remembered that all this is true within certain limits - almost nothing can overcome heavy drug addiction. Having been seduced by even a light drug, you always run the risk of sliding towards the complete destruction of the intellect and personality ...
