Dr. Wolfram Schultz is a Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge and one of the world’s leading experts on dopamine.

In this episode, we discuss the dopamine system's role in reward processing, evolutionary fitness, the functioning of dopamine neurons, the interplay between reward vs punishment, and the complexity of neurons. Dr. Schultz overviews core mechanisms of value-guided decision-making, risk-taking, addiction, the role of prediction error in shaping reinforcement learning, how these are all explained by dopamine, and the differences between dopamine and serotonin

00:18 Understanding Reward Processing in Animals

01:29 Evolutionary Role of Reward System

03:31 Complexity of Reward System and Dopamine Neurons

04:31 Differentiating Reward and Avoidance Systems

05:35 Role of Emotion in Reward Processing

08:07 Exploring Consciousness and its Measurement

08:49 Dopamine Firing in Different Scenarios

11:41 Understanding the Complexity of Neurons

18:23 Exploring the Concept of Prediction Error

27:36 Understanding the Role of Dopamine in Depression

30:52 Understanding the Role of Serotonin and Dopamine

33:55 Exploring the Concept of Metacognition

43:28 Understanding the Development of Reward System in Humans

43:59 Understanding the Reward System in Infants

45:36 The Maturation of the Reward System

46:41 The Role of Neural Connections in Reward System

47:23 The Concept of Reward Sensitivity During Adolescence

48:44 The Importance of Exploration in Reward System

54:53 The Role of Dopamine in Reward System

01:02:41 Understanding Addiction and Dopamine's Role

01:02:45 The Impact of Modern Day Environment on Reward System

01:13:04 The Role of Risk in Assessing Subjective Reward Value

01:18:06 Understanding Individual Differences in Reward Sensitivity

01:20:14 The Never-Ending Journey of Incentive Reward

#Neuroscience #Dopamine #RewardProcessing #BehavioralEconomics #Addiction #RiskTaking #NatureandNurture