Dopamine and related activities

Comparing age groups between drug treatment patients and mountaineers

Experts, such as Michael Bardo, a professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky, say drug use increases the release of dopamine in the brain, but activities, such as high-risk sports, have a similar effect.

Sources: The British Mountaineering Council "Participation Statistics"; The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Addiction. "Differences in Patterns of Drug Use Between Men and Women"; Nature Neuroscience. "Nucleus accumbens dopamine differentially mediates the formation and maintenance of monogamous pair bonds."