The human brain isn’t fully developed until 25 years of age. Everything is there except for the frontal cortex, which is the last thing to mature. An immature frontal cortex explains the spectrum of teenage behaviours.

Dopamine is about mastery and expectation and confidence. It’s “I know how things work; this is going to be great.”

"Frontal cortex is what makes us most definedly human." --Robert Sapolsky

Your reptilian brain, explained | Robert Sapolsky | Big Think youtu.be/xNbNrdX2-zc via YouTube

Emotions filter the nature and accuracy of what is remembered.

The amygdala is the archetypal limbic structure, sitting under the cortex in the temporal lobe. It is central to mediating aggression, along with other behaviours that tell us tons about aggression.

[frontal cortex] Its list of expertise includes working memory, executive function (organizing knowledge strategically, and then initiating an action based on an executive decision), gratification postponement, long-term planning, regulation of emotions and reining in impulsivity

Reward, pleasure, and happiness are complex, and the motivated pursuit of them occurs in at least a rudimentary form in many species. The neurotransmitter dopamine is central to understanding this.