Why do many articles and even chapters in textbooks constantly mention that dopamine release in the mesolimbic system (the so-called reward system) correlates with euphoria and mediates hedonic experiences (liking), when we know for decades that it is rather a neurotransmitter critical for motivational processes and incentive salience (wanting)?
For the first time I realized the fundamental difference between liking and wanting in 2009 based on the article of Berridge, Robinson and Aldridge. I have also learned a lot from Jaak Panksepp's work. Now I understand that while "liking" is associated with the activity of endogenous opioids, cannabinoids and GABA, "wanting" is more likely to be associated with dopamine neurotransmitter activity. What I do not understand is why dopamine is in many papers still associated with the role in hedonic experience rather than in motivation itself.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2756052/
Schizophrenia is claimed to be due to too much dopamine:
Front Psychiatry. 2014; 5: 47. Published online 2014 May 19. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2014.00047PMCID: PMC4032934PMID: 24904434
The Role of Dopamine in Schizophrenia from a Neurobiological and Evolutionary Perspective: Old Fashioned, but Still in Vogue
Ralf Brisch et al.
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