Researchers from Vanderbilt University have found that some brains process dopamine differently resulting in greater “thrill seeking” behavior, says BBC News. Essentially, these individuals have fewer dopamine “autoreceptors” in their brains, which would normally result in a feedback loop that would stop the release of dopamine when stimulating events occur.

However, in thrill-seekers, free-spenders, and those who are impulsive, the regulatory cycle is inhibited due to the lack of autoreceptors meaning that the thrill is all the more thrilling, the reward all the more rewarding–thus making the person wanting to do it again.

Does this mean that the impulse buyer is not responsible for the $60,000 sports car he bought because he can blame it on his lack of dopamine autoreceptors? I’m not so sure. But it helps his wife, if it is the case that his brain is built that way, be more forgiving when he comes home with the keys in his hand.

Summer Johnson, PhD