what do you really know about dopamine? that it’s the hormone of pleasure and happiness? that when it’s low, we lose motivation? or that we should cut out “fast dopamine” to enjoy life more? these are all popular claims spreading online — and I got curious: how much of it is actually true? do I need a dopamine detox? and does that even exist?

to find out, I spoke with Dr. Talia Lerner, a neuroscientist at Northwestern University who studies how dopamine shapes motivation, learning, and habits. Talia has a deep research background — she studied at Yale, did her PhD at UCSF, and later worked at Stanford, where she explored how different dopamine pathways drive different behaviors.