Science at UM [S04-ep16]: The hidden plans of dopamine
This week on A l’UM la science, Jérémie Naudé, researcher at theIGF , reveals the hidden plans of dopamine. The report takes us to Eurostim and our last-minute guest, Ana Palacios, gives us the program for the next Oreme conference. A program broadcast every Wednesday on Divergence FM 93.9.
We have all had this experience: asking a dog to give us its paw, rewarding it with a treat, then repeating the process until the dog gives us its paw on its own to get the treat. We all understand that the dog is repeating a habit it has learned through reward. Now let's take another example: cigarettes. Again, we know that cigarettes cause nicotine addiction, which makes us come back to this product again and again. But how can we understand that a former smoker who has overcome their physical addiction may, years later, feel an irrepressible urge to smoke when they hear good or bad news, or simply when they find themselves in a particular situation?
In both cases, dopamine, a neurotransmitter long known as the "pleasure molecule," is involved. While scientists already understand the role dopamine plays in learning, they also know that in certain contexts, dopamine can motivate us or prompt us to take certain actions without us understanding the mechanisms at work. This is a puzzle that Jérémie Naudé, a researcher at the Institute of Functional Genomics in Montpellier, has been working on. In an article published inNature Communications entitled Dopamine builds and reveals reward-associated latent behavioral attractors, he and his team propose a new theory on dopamine, based on the concept of latent attractors.
In the second part of the program, we take you to the Euromov laboratory to visit the Eurostim platform, where researchers study the effect of electric and magnetic fields on the brain.
Finally, our last-minute guest will be Ana Palacios, who will present the upcoming conference organized on February 11 at Planet Ocean, onThe Cosmic Factory of Elements: A Journey to the Heart of the Stars with an Astronomer.
At UM Science, you have the program, so let's get started!
Co-production: Divergence FM / University of Montpellier
Host: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Lucie Lecherbonnier / Aline Périault
Reporting and editing: Aline Périault
Production: Bruno Bertrand
Listen to the program “A l’UM la science” on Divergence FM 93.9
