Impulsive: 3. Dopamine Hits

Impulsive: 3. Dopamine Hits

From Shadow World by BBC Radio 4

February 13, 2026 · 14 min · Season 7 · Episode 3

About this episode

The episode explores the impact of dopamine on behavior through personal stories of individuals affected by risky decisions and neurological insights.

Freddie finds out his dad’s been scammed - to his horror, he hears that his father Bill has been speaking to multiple women in Ghana who he’d met on Skype, and sent them £300,000. And Steve’s wife finds out about his camgirl habit when he makes a payment to one of the sites on their joint credit card. Neither Bill nor Steve has any idea why they’ve been behaving erratically. Noel meets retired neurologist Paul Morrish, who remembers that doctors were starting to notice their patients experiencing unusual side effects from dopamine agonist drugs as far back as the early 2000s. So why weren’t some patients being properly warned fifteen years later? And neuropsychiatry professor Valerie Voon from the University of Cambridge explains how dopamine affects our perception of reward vs risk - which means people taking dopamine agonists can be prone to taking more risks. Details of organisations offering help and support with some of the issues raised are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline. If you have any concerns about medication you’re taking, speak to your doctor. Presenter: Noel Titheradge Producer: Lucy Burns Editor: Matt Willis A BBC News Long Form Audio production

People in this episode

Host: Noel Titheradge

Guests: Paul Morrish, Valerie Voon

Topics covered

  • scams
  • dopamine
  • risk-taking
  • neurology
  • mental health

Keywords

  • dopamine
  • scams
  • neurology
  • risk behavior
  • mental health

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Cambridge, BBC Radio 4, BBC News Long Form Audio

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