Dope, Dope, Dopamine

"Whether it's the Beatles or Beethoven, people like music for the same reason they like eating or having sex: It makes the brain release a chemical that gives pleasure, a new study says.

The brain substance is involved both in anticipating a particularly thrilling musical moment and in feeling the rush from it, researchers found.

While dopamine normally helps us feel the pleasure of eating or having sex, it also helps produce euphoria from illegal drugs. It's active in particular circuits of the brain.


The tie to dopamine helps explain why music is so widely popular across cultures, Robert Zatorre and Valorie Salimpoor of McGill University in Montreal write in an article posted online Sunday by the journal Nature Neuroscience. " - iol.co.za

Wouldn't the ultimate party drug then be a synthesis of Dopamine? Imagine popping a pill that gives you the rush and pleasure of drugs, sex and good music all at the same time.

And I suppose you could heighten the effect by listening to your favourite band while having sex covered in Cocaine.

That would be my kind of dream!