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This question is related to this one: How long can a person stay happy, excited and motivated about something new?

I found a couple of references to research that links "thinking fast" to mood lift: Speed of thinking and mood lift From what I've read so far on how the body/brain works, there are several examples of "negative feedback" to maintain homeostasis. This is the first example of something that can be considered "positive feedback", and it intrigues me.

I'm wondering what are the parts of a brain or neurotransmitters that are involved in "thinking fast"?

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is there any reason to believe 'thinking fast' is the product of particular brain areas or neurotransmitters? – Jeff Nov 10 '12 at 3:23
@Jeff Yes, provided that "thinking fast" is following Kahneman's use. Dual-process theory holds that people have a fast, automatic process and a slow, controlled process for decision-making, much like the two-streams hypothesis holds that visual perception has a fast "where" pathway and a slow "what" pathway. – Christian Hummeluhr Mar 31 at 10:42
@ChristianHummeluhr I'm very familiar with dual-process theory, but a) it's not clear that OP is using this definition, rather than more generically "doing the same task faster" without engaging in system 2 processing. b) You can apply the sys1/sys2 dichotomy to innumerable tasks that involve various brain areas and neurotransmitters. I'm not sure why you'd expect a particular neurotransmitter to always be associated with System 2 processing. I think this may be a good question, but it needs more clarification and prior research. – Jeff Mar 31 at 16:52
@Jeff Haha, sorry, I actually didn't mean to imply you aren't familiar with dual-process theory at all! It's become second nature to give a quick description of a theory or view whenever I use it. The question could definitely be clearer, though. – Christian Hummeluhr Mar 31 at 17:02
@ChristianHummeluhr no worries, i wasn't taking offense, just clarifying! i think it's good practice to assume very little on here, for the sake of future readers – Jeff Mar 31 at 17:09

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