Newly Discovered Ebb and Flow of Brain Chemicals that Drive Learning — Continuously

So according to the title we are constantly learning?

Well, of course. We learn small things day by day in our daily interactions but the interesting bit about this research is how they discovered this mechanism in the brain.

So what ebb and flow are we talking about?

Well you may have heard of the dopamine hit. This has become a topic with social media with the little hits of excitement at each new click stimulating dopamine, a neurotransmitter that is known for its involvement in reward. Dopamine has also been known to be strongly involved in learning mechanisms in the brain stimulating attention and neuroplasticity also.

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So far so good but is it just dopamine?

As I always say, everything in the brain is much more complicated than you can imagine — so no it never is just dopamine and in this research Dr Anne Krok and colleagues of the NYU Grossman School of Medicine looked at dopamine and acetylcholine and how they interacted in the learning process in the mouse brain.

And?

First off, they looked at the learning process and hit is highest when dopamine is high and acetylcholine is low — so it is not just dopamine…