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Mechanistic review reveals circuit-level regulation of dopamine during motor memory formation, indicating distinct pathways for reward-driven versus non-reward learning.
Dopamine is a chemical messenger in your brain that controls feelings of pleasure, motivation, and learning. It acts like a reward system. When you do something fun or helpful for survival (like eating or exercising), your brain releases dopamine to make you feel good. The two resource of dopamine are substantia nigra and ventral tegmental area. The motor system (basal ganglia) uses dopamine from SN, but the brain cortex uses dopamine from VTA. In non-reward motor memory the brain uses basal ganglia dopamine control (direct and indirect) toward SN, but in reward motor memory the brain uses additional dopamine control via the ventral pallidum and the core of nucleus accumbens toward SN. The five senses also can control dopamine power by the level of concentration and using high types of memory
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Ali Esamandar (2026) studied this question.
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