DOPAMINE—THE PLEASURE HORMONE
We subscribe to Pandora Music and every few days change stations so we can listen to newer artists we wouldn’t usually dial up. This week I heard the 20-year-old Grammy Award winner Billie Eilish sing her song “Oxytocin,” in which one of the lines is: “You know I need you for the oxytocin.” Well, it made me wonder what the heck is oxytocin; is it one of the drugs we should stay away from because it’s addictive? I found out that it’s actually one of several “feel-good hormones.”
Now, I wanted to know more about these jovial hormones. I found an informative online article in one of my go-to sources—Harvard Medical School. In her July 20, 2021 article Feel-good hormones: How they affect your mind, mood and body, Stephanie Watson separates them into a series of four separate featured hormones: dopamine, serotonin, endorphins and oxytocin. This week I’ll share excerpts from Dopamine: The pathway to pleasure. Next week I’ll post on another.
Dopamine can provide an intense feeling of reward
Dopamine is most notably involved in helping us feel pleasure as part of the brain’s reward system. Sex, shopping, smelling cookies baking in the oven — all these things can trigger dopamine release, or a “dopamine rush.”
This feel-good neurotransmitter is also involved in reinforcement. That’s why, once we try one of those cookies, we might come back for another one (or two, or three).
Dopamine also plays a role in these functions:
- learning and attention
- mood
- movement
- heart rate
- kidney function
- blood vessel function
- sleep
- pain processing
- lactation
Where is dopamine produced?
Neurons in the region at the base of the brain produce dopamine in a two-step process. First, the amino acid tyrosine is converted into another amino acid, called L-dopa. Then L-dopa undergoes another change, as enzymes turn it into dopamine.
Too little dopamine causes the stiff movements that are the hallmark of Parkinson’s disease. Although depression is more often linked to a lack of serotonin, studies find that a dopamine deficiency also contributes to a down mood. In particular, people with depression often suffer from a lack of motivation and concentration.
Because dopamine is made from tyrosine, getting more of this amino acid from food could potentially boost dopamine levels in your brain. There is evidence that a diet rich in tyrosine also may improve memory and mental performance.
Foods high in tyrosine include:
- chicken and other types of poultry
- dairy foods such as milk, cheese, and yogurt
- avocadoes
- bananas
- pumpkin and sesame seeds
- soy
There is also some evidence that the brain releases more dopamine when we meditate. The change in consciousness that occurs during meditation may trigger its release.