Great Expectations…of Your Brain

Think about this. When people have expectations that are met, they get a happy level of dopamine in the brain, a chemical critical to the ability to think clearly. And, when people aren’t expecting positive outcomes and get them, their levels get even higher. The reverse is also true. Positive expectation plus negative outcome equals lower levels of dopamine. Negative expectation plus negative result equals even lower levels of dopamine.

Tags: Brain, dopamine, expectation, making decisions, neurotransmitters, prefrontal cortex