New research out of Michigan State University expands on current understanding of the brain chemical dopamine, finding that it plays a role in reducing the value of memories associated with rewards. The study — published in the open access journal Communications Biology — opens new avenues for understanding dopamine’s role in the brain.

The research team discovered that dopamine is involved in reshaping memories of past rewarding events — an unexpected function that challenges established theories of dopamine function.

“We discovered that dopamine plays a role in modifying how a reward-related memory is perceived over time,” said Alexander Johnson, associate professor in MSU’s Department of Psychology and lead researcher of the study.

In the study, mice were presented with an auditory cue that had previously been associated with a sweet-tasting food. This led to a retrieval of the memory associated with consuming the food. At this time, mice were made to feel temporarily unwell, similar to how you feel if you’ve eaten something that has upset your stomach.