circuits bathed in dopamine become malleable. They morph into new patterns. New memories are laid down, new connections are established. “Remember what happened,” says the dopamine circuit. “This may be useful in the future.” What’s the end result? You don’t get surprised the next time the reward occurs. When you discovered the website that streamed your favorite music, it was exciting. But the next time you visited the site it wasn’t. There’s no longer any reward prediction error. Dopamine is not meant to be an enduring reservoir of joy. By shaping the brain to make surprising events
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