The pursuit of excitement is strictly a human preoccupation.
People get bored.
But while for some people, something different may include a movie or a weekend away, for others boredom requires a more extreme remedy such as bungee jumping or skydiving. The characteristic of novelty seeking has been associated with different alleles in the DRD4 and DRD2 genes, these are dopamine receptor genes. Specific polymorphisms are associated with different tendencies for novelty seeking. Several types of addiction have been associated with the dopamine receptor. These include addictions to alcohol, nicotine, cocaine, opiates, marijuana and a host of other drugs.