Controlling Your Dopamine For Motivation, Focus & Satisfaction | Episode 39
Main Takeaways
Dopamine is a neuromodulator that plays a crucial role in our motivation, drive, craving, and time perception.
There are two main pathways for dopamine: mesocortical limbic pathway and nigrostriatal pathway, responsible for reward, motivation, craving, and movement.
Dopamine release can be local or broad, and it communicates via g-protein-coupled receptors that affect gene expression.
Tonic and phasic levels of dopamine release determine our baseline and peak levels of dopamine, respectively.
Drugs and supplements that increase dopamine can make it harder to sustain dopamine release over time, leading to short-lived effects.
Our baseline levels of dopamine vary based on our genetic makeup and repeated engagement in activities we enjoy.
The levels of dopamine increase with varying duration when we ingest or engage in certain activities, such as chocolate, sex, nicotine, cocaine, and amphetamine.
The pleasure-pain balance of dopamine is based on how much dopamine is present and how much is ready to be released into the system.
Modulating dopamine levels involves understanding dopamine peaks and baseline, not chasing high levels of dopamine, and engaging in activities with an intermittent schedule.
Prescription and non-prescription drugs such as Wellbutrin, Mucuna pruriens, and L-tyrosine can increase dopamine levels but can have side effects like crashes and dosing issues.
