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Profs and Pints DC presents: “Dopamine, the Devil and Angel in Your Brain,” with Dr. Daniel Z. Lieberman, scholar of addiction and mood disorders, former professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at George Washington University, and co-author of the international bestseller The Molecule of More.
[The Hill Center is requiring proof of vaccination.]
Fully understanding our behavior means understanding dopamine, a brain chemical which can bring out the best and worst in us. Come gain great insights into how dopamine affects how your mind works with Daniel Lieberman, a psychiatrist and brain researcher who previously has given fantastic Profs and Pints talks on how brain chemistry affects creativity and influences our political behavior.
Dr. Lieberman will describe how dopamine is the molecule of sex, drugs, and rock and roll while also being responsible for works of art and scientific and technological advances. It leaves us obsessed with the things we want and bored once we get them, bearing much of the blame when love quickly turns from passion to indifference. In many respects, it’s nature’s most dangerous chemical.
All of this occurs because dopamine orients us to the future, guiding us to seek not only pleasure but also ever-increasing access to resources. It’s the chemical that has given humans mastery over the entire planet, but if we’re not careful, it can enslave us, depriving us of control over our own selves by causing us to fall into compulsive behavior and addiction.
Dr. Lieberman has so much respect for the power of dopamine that he titled his book on it The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity―and Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race. His talk on it will leave you much more attuned to the role that dopamine plays in your own life. (Advance tickets: $12. Door: $15, or $13 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later. Please allow yourself time to place any orders and get seated and settled in.)
Image: A High Angular Resolution Diffusion Image in which wiring associated with particular brain structures has been assigned the same color. Photo by Viviana Siless and Anastasia Yendiki, Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard University. (National Institutes of Health)
