Neuro Research Project has a very interesting post on risk-taking, dopamine, and Dr. Christakis’s mouse study.
Note Neuro Research Project ‘s post is based on Dr. Sheikh Arshad Saeed‘s ideas:
http://neuroresearchproject.com/2012/03/14/tv-brain-development-in-children-2/
Dopamine addiction is an overlooked problem.. Dopamine is the most addictive substance on the planet, a neurotransmitter produced in our own body.
This TEDx video (Media and Children), by Dimitri Christakis, a pediatrician, parent, and researcher, shows young mice taking risks after being exposed to TV, 6 hours a day, for 42 days. The mice continued to take more (potentially life threatening) risks the longer they were exposed to TV.
Long term exposure to specific types of media, especially in young developing brains, appears to corrupt the reward system; fewer dopamine receptors. Over-stimulation from media may produce the same effects on the brain as drugs, i.e. heroin and cocaine. These drugs artificially extracts more dopamine from nerve cells in the brain, requiring more to get high or satisfied over time. An abundance of dopamine, due to a low density of dopamine receptors, appears to lead to unhealthy risk-taking. Risk-taking comes in…
View original post 147 more words
tvSmarter 
Pingback: Adderall Ritalin and Cocaine Hijack the primitive brain