Amphetamine, Games, and Rewards

Oral amphetamine blunts the reward /incentive systems of healthy people. In an fMRI study of healthy volunteers playing a game involving the winning or losing of money, oral amphetamine dropped nucleus accumbens activation when a 'win' was anticipated, and increased activation before a 'loss', blunting the over-all reaction.



This is not a good thing, especially given the idea that addiction may be driven when the brain becomes less activated by natural rewards. What are non-pharmacological ways to activate your accumbens, then? Some of them are things you find funny or beautiful, and playing video games.



Young,...Playing Pharmacist to Friends
Plasticity of Reward Circuitry
Beauty and Accumbens
Humor and Accumbens
Video Games and Dopamine Release
Stimulants May Limit Neuroplasticity