So let's think about dopamine peaks and baselines . And let's remember that for every peak there's a trough .
When you have a mountain , you have the bottom of the mountain . When we think about dopamine peaks and dopamine baselines , we have to include that trough because that trough , that is the level of dopamine below baseline really dictates whether or not you are going to feel motivated to pursue something or not . So I'm gonna give you a visual in your mind .
So if I desire a sandwich or I desire a cup of coffee or I desire some water . When I'm thirsty , there's an increase in dopamine that we could call a little mini peak in dopamine . But then here's the key thing very soon after I realized my desire for something that peak that was caused by the desire comes down and drops below baseline below the level of dopamine that it was prior to even thinking about the sandwich or the coffee or the glass of water .
Now , if I love the sandwich , like it's the most delicious thing that I've ever tasted in my entire life . Well , then I'll get a big peak in dopamine when I consume that reward . However , chances are that sandwich is more or less as I expect it to be , which is pretty good , I'll eat it and I'm fine .
Really nice roast beef sandwich on sourdough with a slice of Swiss tomatoes slice of pickle here , I'm describing the sandwich that I would want . So if you're hungry and you're thinking about that dopamine starts rising . This is crucially important to understand dopamine is not just released when we get the reward .
