Neurotransmitters Part 2: Dopamine

This post is a little bit longer today.  There is so much more I would like to tell you about Dopamine, but I don’t want to make this post so long that you lose interest. I hope you enjoy learning and if you have questions, please reach out and ask.

Dopamine is made in the body using two amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein, called tyrosine and phenylalanine.

When we think of dopamine, we often think about how it makes us feel happy.  Dopamine is the pleasure chemical in our brains. It’s released when we eat a really yummy treat, look at Facebook to see how many people have “liked” our posts, when we have sex, and many other instances where we want to come back for more of something. Dopamine is a great chemical which helps to motivate us.

Although dopamine is the pleasure chemical, it does many other things!  It helps the body to control movement and it contributes to executive functioning. Executive functioning includes many different skills that are really much more complex than they sound.  Many people take these skills for granted because they come naturally to them.  Here is a great YouTube video about Executive Functioning.

Executive functioning includes:

• Response inhibition– An example of this is when you have a drink of alcohol. A balanced amount of dopamine helps you to stop drinking when you should.  Those with too little dopamine might not stop drinking.

• Working memory– Working memory is the amount of information that you are able to access in your mind in order to complete a task. For example, it’s listening to a story while understanding what the story means.

• Emotional control– Emotional control is the ability to control your emotions as well as recover quickly while trying to complete a task. For example, when you are finishing a homework assignment and you don’t understand the process, dopamine helps you to control your frustration and anger and use reasoning in order to make a good choice to ask for help.

• Sustained attention– Sustained attention is just what it sounds like. If you have too little dopamine in the frontal lobe of your brain (we’ll look at the brain in the near future), you will most likely be unable to continue paying attention even when you need to.

• Task initiation– Task initiation is your ability to start something, like a project for work. Some people call lack of task initiation, procrastination.

• Planning and prioritizing– Planning related to executive functioning is the ability to look at a large task and make goals in order to complete that task. Prioritizing is the ability to figure out what the most important steps are to obtain that goal.

• Organization– We all know what organization is! People with too little dopamine have difficulty with organizing their mind to think through the steps, take action to complete the steps, and solve problems when they run up against a problem.

• Time management– Time management is the ability to correctly think about how long something might take and the decisions it requires to be able to finish the task in a timely manner. This requires prioritizing, planning how long each task will take while keeping to that plan, and continuing toward meeting the goal on time.

• Goal directed persistence– Goal directed persistence works in conjunction with many of the above executive functioning skills. It basically means that when setting a goal, it is realistic and able to be accomplished, and it is the ability to continue to make steps to work toward that particular goal.

• Flexibility with shifting focus– This basically means you’re able to shift your response to the context of a situation. An example is you are driving to work and there is a detour sign. A person who has no trouble with this ability is able to figure out a different way to work.  They are not stuck sitting there trying to figure out what to do.

• Metacognition– Metacognition is a difficult concept and is broken down into several concepts. I will not bore you with those details.  Basically, it’s the awareness and understanding of your thought process. In other words, you know how you might learn information in the best way for you.  Some people learn by watching You Tube videos in order to change the oil in their car but I might learn the best by reading a book. Still others prefer to learn by having someone help them and learning in a hands-on way.

Too Much, Too Little

So, too much of anything is not a good thing.  Too much dopamine in certain parts of our brain can contribute to mania and schizophrenia which is exhibited by hallucinations and delusions.

Too little dopamine contributes to many common diseases including Parkinson’s disease, depression, addiction, gambling, binge-eating, obesity, ADHD, and others.  One example of what happens when we naturally don’t have enough dopamine includes drug use. Persons who use drugs are using them primarily as they increase the dopamine in their brain and we like the feel of pleasure and a happier mood.  Unfortunately, that wears off and someone who uses substances, like methamphetamine feels compelled to do it again because it induces a feeling of pleasure and euphoria among other things.  We will talk about addiction in a future post.

What are ways to increase dopamine?

1. Foods that are rich in magnesium and tyrosine, an amino acid (a building block of protein) include:
   • Cheese
   • Meat
   • Fish
   • Dairy
   • Soy
   • Seeds and nuts
   • Beans and lentils

2. Avoiding processed foods, increased fat, sugar, and caffeine (Ha! Yeah, right! COFFEE!)
3. Proper sleep
4. Exercise
5. Avoid stress and using effective coping skills (reciting your favorite Bible verse, meditation, breathing, distraction, etc)
6. Natural supplements including L-Tyrosine and L-theanine (amino acids)

Sometimes despite all of the above, our body just doesn’t make enough dopamine and that’s okay.  People may need help through the use of medications. It doesn’t mean you are a bad person or have a moral failing.  It just means you don’t have enough dopamine.  We will discuss in the future, why some people may have an imbalance in dopamine.

Please contact your primary care provider or mental health professional, if you have concerns that you may have an issue.