Dopamine is also a
neurotransmitter and is involved in many important functions like movement,
learning, and mood. It is found in the nigrostriatal, mesolimbic, and
mesocortical systems of the brain. It is mainly found in the mesolimbic system,
which is known to be the ‘pleasure phase’ of the brain and most of it works
within the nucleus accumbens part of the brain, which is the part of the brain
that involves the feelings of reward, accomplishment, and pleasure but also
fear. Dopamine is also involved in causing these feelings. Although dopamine is made naturally in
your body, it is also involved in reinforcing the effects of drug abuse.
Dopamine usually causes positive feelings, but new studies show that it may
also cause fear. These separate
feelings in the brain are very close to each other, actually only a couple
millimeters apart. “(Scientists) speculate that disruption of dopamine
neurotransmission in one region of the nucleus accumbens may be a mechanism for
pathological fear in disorders such as schizophrenia.” (The good and bad side
of dopamine). This means that while it can cause joyful feelings, it can also
cause critical disorders like schizophrenia and is not a perfect
neurotransmitter as most people originally thought. Dopamine is an extraordinary chemical.