Dopamine and Serotonin Optimization

Hi everyone! Thank you for stopping by my blog! I really appreciate it!

Right now I am reading a wonderful book called "Limitless" by Jim Kwik. I will make a review of it, once I finish it. But for now I want to say that in this book Jim says that it is easier to remember something when you add some meaning to information that you learn. And I can't agree more. I try to study as much as I can and my blog, my desire to share some information that I find useful with other, help me a lot in remembering things. When I here something that can help me, I get excited when I think that this knowledge can also help others. And today I want to share some information that I learned about Dopamine and Serotonin.

Here is the link to the video for my today's post: Dopamine and Serotonin.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, which is also a neuromodulator, it helps you to stay motivated. You can call it a "neurotransmitter of more". It affects the parts of your brain which are responsible for motivation. It creates the drive that pushes you toward achieving your goals. The simple example is a monkey who sees a banana hanging on the tree. Banana is a reward. When dopamine gets released, it helps the monkey to climb the tree. The important part is that dopamine usually gets released in anticipation of reward, not when you get the reward itself, unless reward is unexpected. And this release helps you to feel strength, to take action, to try get more from life, and to learn where you can find your rewards. And this is great that we have this dopamine system in our brain. But at the same time it can cause us troubles and it is important to understand how.

For example, there is such thing as reward prediction error. It can be positive, when you get more than you expected, and it is actually not bad. And it can be negative. When you put efforts, but don't get what you wanted. In this case you can even stop releasing any dopamine, become demotivated and even get depressed if it happens often. That is why it is important to direct your dopamine system into the right place. The best thing you can do, is to focus on internal goals related to your self-development, to something meaningful that you can control. For example, you can have goals related to working out, to reading, taking classes, etc. Don't let your vision to be too narrow, because this can lead to addiction. Dopamine is something that makes people gambling, or taking drugs if they don't use the system wisely. But on other hand, it helps you to learn what is good for you and it gives energy to keep doing useful things. You just need to reward good behavior. I have a journal where I write down my achievements every night. And usually these are little things related to my health, my personal development, my blog or work. But from these little things I am building a good life for myself, so they are very important.

Now I want to talk about Serotonin, neurotransmitter of contentment. So if Dopamine pushes you to want more, serotonin helps you to be happy with what you already have. It makes you feel relaxed. And the best way to improve your Serotonin system is to practice gratitude. You can think of three things you are thankful every night before you go to bed. And you can just take a pause and appreciate life the way it is.

When you overuse your dopamine system and underuse serotonin system, you can get burned out. and if you overuse serotonin and underuse dopamine, you won't be able to achieve too many goals. So it is very important to know about these two systems and manage them wisely, be mindful about them.

Here is the link to a wonderful interview with professor Andrew Huberman who explains how dopamine and serotonin work in much better way than I do: How to Optimize Your Brain to Be as Happy as Possible with Dr. Andrew Huberman.

I hope this information was helpful and you will be able to juggle your dopamine and serotonin system for your own good!

Be Strong And Love Yourself!

From Dasha With Love!

Love Wins!