Happiness

2025: Built-in pleasure timer found in the brain when dopamine is released in the process of waiting for happiness

The mechanism of accurate neural timing, which regulates the release of dopamine at the time of waiting for pleasant events, was discovered by scientists in the ventral region of the head tire. brain A study published in June 2025 showed that this section of the brain contains groups of neurons that respond to various time intervals, from instantaneous to long, and form the so-called "built-in pleasure timer," which is activated even before the event itself.

According to ScienceDaily, the ventral region of the tire is a small cluster of nerve cells that serves as the main source of dopamine in the brain. This neuromodulator spreads to other brain structures to form a response to positive stimuli.

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Фото: Freepik

Initially, scientists considered this area as a simple center of reward. However, research in the 1990s showed a more complex picture of the functioning of this brain structure.

Experiments in laboratory animals revealed an unexpected mechanism of operation of the reward system. When the light signal was regularly followed by encouragement, the tire area eventually began to release dopamine not at the time of receiving the award, but immediately when a warning signal appeared.

This principle is called "reinforcement training" and plays a fundamental role in human learning processes. Similar mechanisms have formed the basis of many artificial intelligence algorithms that improve their work through learning cycles.

A new study has uncovered an even more sophisticated system for encoding information in the ventral region of a tire. Instead of simply predicting the total amount of future rewards, this structure is able to predict their time sequence.

Each expected reward is processed separately with an accurate indication of the moment of its expected receipt. This detail ensures high accuracy of the motivation and planning system.^[1]

2018:48 years - peak misfortune

Happiness curve: A person in middle age is mostly unhappy. In developed countries, the peak of misfortune is the age of 47.2 years, in peripheral economies - 48.2 years.

Source: U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research

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