Controlling Your Dopamine For Motivation, Focus & Satisfaction

This episode serves as a sort of “Dopamine Masterclass”. I discuss the immensely powerful chemical that we all make in our brain and body: dopamine. I describe what it does and the neural circuits involved. I explain dopamine peaks and baselines, and the cell biology of dopamine depletion. I include 14 tools for how to control your dopamine release for sake of motivation, focus, avoiding and combating addiction and depression, and I explain why dopamine stacking with chemicals and behaviors inevitably leads to states of underwhelm and poor performance. I explain how to achieve sustained increases in baseline dopamine, compounds that injure and protect dopamine neurons including caffeine from specific sources. I describe non-prescription supplements for increasing dopamine—both their benefits and risks—and synergy of pro-dopamine supplements with those that increase acetylcholine.

#HubermanLab #Dopamine #Motivation

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Timestamps:
00:00:00 Introduction & Tool 1 to Induce Lasting Dopamine
00:04:48 Sponsors: Roka, InsideTracker, Headspace
00:09:10 Upcoming (Zero-Cost) Neuroplasticity Seminar for Educators
00:09:58 What Dopamine (Really) Does
00:15:30 Two Main Neural Circuits for Dopamine
00:18:14 How Dopamine Is Released: Locally and Broadly
00:22:03 Fast and Slow Effects of Dopamine
00:25:03 Dopamine Neurons Co-Release Glutamate
00:28:00 Your Dopamine History Really Matters
00:30:30 Parkinson’s & Drugs That Kill Dopamine Neurons. My Dopamine Experience
00:36:58 Tool 3 Controlling Dopamine Peaks & Baselines
00:40:06 Chocolate, Sex (Pursuit & Behavior), Nicotine, Cocaine, Amphetamine, Exercise
00:46:46 Tool 4 Caffeine Increases Dopamine Receptors
00:49:54 Pursuit, Excitement & Your “Dopamine Setpoint”
00:56:46 Your Pleasure-Pain Balance & Defining “Pain”
01:00:00 Addiction, Dopamine Depletion, & Replenishing Dopamine
01:07:50 Tool 5 Ensure Your Best (Healthy) Dopamine Release
01:15:28 Smart Phones: How They Alter Our Dopamine Circuits
01:19:45 Stimulants & Spiking Dopamine: Counterproductive for Work, Exercise & Attention
01:22:20 Caffeine Sources Matter: Yerba Mate & Dopamine Neuron Protection
01:24:20 Caffeine & Neurotoxicity of MDMA
01:26:15 Amphetamine, Cocaine & Detrimental Rewiring of Dopamine Circuits
01:27:57 Ritalin, Adderall, (Ar)Modafinil: ADHD versus non-Prescription Uses
01:28:45 Tool 6 Stimulating Long-Lasting Increases in Baseline Dopamine
01:37:55 Tool 7 Tuning Your Dopamine for Ongoing Motivation
01:47:40 Tool 8 Intermittent Fasting: Effects on Dopamine
01:53:09 Validation of Your Pre-Existing Beliefs Increases Dopamine
01:53:50 Tool 9 Quitting Sugar & Highly Palatable Foods: 48 Hours
01:55:36 Pornography
01:56:50 Wellbutrin & Depression & Anxiety
01:58:30 Tool 10 Mucuna Pruriens, Prolactin, Sperm, Crash Warning
02:01:45 Tool 11 L-Tyrosine: Dosages, Duration of Effects & Specificity
02:05:20 Tool 12 Avoiding Melatonin Supplementation, & Avoiding Light 10pm-4am
02:07:00 Tool 13 Phenylethylamine (with Alpha-GPC) For Dopamine Focus/Energy
02:08:20 Tool 14 Huperzine A
02:10:02 Social Connections, Oxytocin & Dopamine Release
02:12:20 Direct & Indirect Effects: e.g., Maca; Synthesis & Application
02:14:22 Zero-Cost & Other Ways To Support Podcast & Research

The Huberman Lab Podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user’s own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.

[hubermanlab]

Thank you for watching. If you enjoyed this topic and episode, please click the "like" button and subscribe to our channel here on YouTube.
Thank you for your interest in science! -- Andrew

[pevajanastasijarane]

if you want to go deeper into the rabbit hole, 'Unveiling Your Hidden Potential' by Bruce Thornwood is a must-read

[Catholic-Redpilled-Spaniard]

I am a 21 year-old engineering student from Madrid, Spain. This is unbelievably helpful.
What a wonderful time we live in, that I can listen to a top-notch neuroscientist talk about perhaps the most important topic for me in this particular moment in my life.
And all this from the comfort of my bedroom and for free.

You, Sir, are one of a kind. God bless you and love you

[__the_rr__]

1. Cold Water therapy effects on dopamine, adrenaline and nor adrenalin
2. Dopamine can be released in 2 ways: Local release and volumetric release
3. How pleasurable or satisfying you feel doesn't depend on peak level of dopamine. It depends upon difference in baseline level and peak level of dopamine. How you feel depends upon your previous level of Dopamine as compared to present level. Many drugs just increase both baseline level and peak level instead of increasing the difference between them. A big Dopamine release makes it more challenging to achieve higher dopamine release the next time. There should not be High level nor low level of Dpamine for long.
4.Just Increasing dopamine level will make us excited but that excitement will be for very less period of time
5. Chocolate increases Dipamine 1.5 times but it goes away in few seconds. Desire of sex or act of sex increases dopamine 2 times
6. Nicotene(smoked) increases dopamine 2.5 times above base line (Very short lived)
7. Amphetamine, Cocaine, Nicotine, Sex increases dopamine in everybody that takes them. Exercise, Hard Work and Studying increasea dopamine but it is subjective
8. After achieving something, Dopamine increases but after some time it falls down. It falls down even below the baseline. The extent it drops below the baseline is directly proportional to how high the peak was. After achieving something, if you feel preety happy, the dopamine will not fall that much but if you feel extremely happy, your dopamine will fall extremely after a day or two. (Eg:- Postpartum Depression). Anyway, we return to the baseline after some time.
9. If we continue to engage in something exciting regularly, after sometime it will be less exciting to us.
10. Some people release dopamine at higher level after a certain activity which deplete the releasable pool of dopamine. So, after sometime, dopamine falls below base level and it leads to a low feeling. Some people do the dopamine spiking activity again and again to bring back dopamine up to experience pleasure again since they are feeling low. But as we know, they have depleted the stock of releasable dopamine. The baseline begins to lower again and again. This is called ADDICTION and Addicted people don't feel pleasure at all.
11. Addiction is the progressive narrowing of things that bring you pleasure. If I am addicted to video games. I will feel happy in only playing it. I will not feel happy in exercise, study, social activity and my life will be ruined. After a some time, my system will stop releasing dopamine even after playing video games and nothing is left for me which can increase my dopamine. This is the start of depression. Spiking dopamine again and again is the main cause of decline in The baseline level.
12. If you experience a win whether it is school, sports or relationship; be highly careful about allowing yourself to experience a huge peak of Dopamine.
13. You kind of like exercise and to do exercise you increase dopamine by drinking energy drink and listen music to do exercise then you are increasing the number of conditions required to achieve the high level of dopamine by doing exercise. Don't use stimulants everytime you study or everytime you workout or anything in which you want to enjoy the process. Taking these stimulants (Music, energy drinks, Motivational reels) before the task will reduce the level of enjoyment and undermine the ability to stay motivated. The best way is to get excitement and motivation from the task itself whether it is Study or Workout. So. ENJOY THE PROCESS only.
14. Some Healthy ways to increase Dopamine so that the base level is maintained:: Cold water Therapy which increases Adrenalin and nor-adrenalin rapidly while dopamine shows gradual increase to 2.5 times above baseline and comes back to normal in 3 hours (Here there is a sustained increase instead of Rise and Crash)
15. If you work hard for the end result then the process will become very challenging. 1:39:02 is an amazing example. When someone gives reward or we reward ourself then we tend to associate our pleasure with reward rather than the work itself and if the reward is stopped, we lose interest in the process of the work. But again, Take a special care of not spiking dopamine just prior or even after to the effort. Learn to raise Dopamine from effort itself.
16. Example of Porn: Those who are indulged in it find it difficult to seek enjoyment in the productive process. Watching porn and Masturbation increase dopamine level⬆️ and then fall down very quickly⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️ below base line . Now to raise dopamine level much higher is difficult to feel pleasure again.

[zyrboje]

How listening to this podcast boosts dopamine is unfathomable.

[diarmuidbrady]

This is the highest quality science-based podcast in existence, hands down.

[petsematarykeeper]

When history looks back on this time....Mr. Huberman, you will be one of the names that changed the way people see the world. Thank you for your contribution to this world. Your reach and inspiration reaches so much further than you will ever know.

[KenStentiford]

Been on antipsychotics fot nearly three years, y'all should appreciate your chemicals, because without them, life is very hard. Happiness, purpose, mojo, connections, motivation, energy are just some of the things antipsychotics take away. You try and live without these human nessesities. Be grateful people.

[Brooklyn-epqk]

you've changed my life. after listening to this, I'm going to kick my dopamine addiction. I've never been so determined and will use this video to help me understand that what I'm going through makes perfect sense and in time, I will regulate myself and do well again.

[villealla]

I've hurt myself and others by not knowing these things. It's borderline criminal not to teach this stuff at school. Show a teenager this one video and their entire life could be different.

[tavin]

Practical summary:

1. Dopamine management
- Abstain from or limit highly desirable activities for up to a month so the dopamine levels are replenished and the baseline dopamine release returns to normal
- Peaks of dopamine decrease our baseline dopamine, required to general motivation and satisfaction with life.
- Go for intermittent, random releases of dopamine
- Don't bundle pleasurable activities with things you want to do (gym and music)
- Flip a coin and choose how much pleasure bundling you'll do to the next activity
- Otherwise the activity alone becomes less pleasurable

2. Direct practices
- Cold water exposure - 2.5x increase and sustained for hours afterwards
- Peaks
- Chocolate - 1.5x
- Sex - 2x (act and pursuit of it)
- Nicotine - 2.5x
- Cocaine - 2.5x
- Amphetamine - 10x
- Exercise - 2x (up to 2x, the more you enjoy it subjectively)
- Coffee combined with another activity (coffee makes the dopamine release more effective)
- Connection with other people

3. Mental strategies
- Subjectivity, perception and belief
- Hearing something that validates our belief about an activity, makes it more pleasurable
- Journaling, thinking positively about something you remember or you're experiencing now releases dopamine
- Learn to spike dopamine from effort
- Don't spike dopamine prior to engaging in effort
- Don't spike dopamine after engaging in effort
- Learn to spike dopamine from effort itself.

[dinaaperazzo]

I don't have too many things that I enjoy anymore, or motivated to do anything. 62 yo and have had a very stressful life, ate the SAD American diet. I have been battling chronic fatigue (adrenal fatigue) for a good ten years. I abused caffeine and sugar for most of my adult life and I finally got off of it too and eating healthier but have zero energy or motivation. I listen to, or watch YouTube videos to kill time. Certain ones, I can't wait to watch. I guess that's my "Dopamine hits". I even became a Christian 4 years ago and that was really a "Dopamine Hit", I have since calmed down and now focusing on my health. I think families need to really pay attention to all this raising their children, we are all a society of being over stimulated, "Junkie's" waiting for the next hit. Kids need to learn to use their imagination, not cell phones, TV's, or computers.

[papitosabe]

My father had early onset alztheimers...he started to have poor walking/gait where he shuffled his feet real bad and couldn't turn around without shuffling. I read about it and it didn't seem to be Parkinson's, but parkinsonism, which isn't the same. The neurologist my dad had didn't even know what parkinsomism was. I asked to put him on L-dopa.

He said it prob won't help but he could put him on it if we wanted. At about 12 days or so, it was a night and day difference. No more shuffling whatsoever.

All I have to say is, as many of us know, doctors don't always know, even what they specialize in.

[tarkacode]

I am amazed by the fact that this podcast is available for free, it is pure gold

[emmanuelguillermo]

Your content is a game changer. Upon being prompted for a donation request I gladly sent the maximum amount, no questions asked. I wish you more success, Andrew. The human race needs what you have to offer.

[danadelaney]

This video is changing my life. Incredibly intelligent and informative. Pretty sure my entrapment in ADHD is going to change dramatically. I’ve been living all wrong.

[csgqmlu]

I am a PhD student from Germany. First I want to say thanks for all the efforts you made for the podcast. I know it is one thing to understand scientific research results, it is another thing to explain in a easy way to people not in this field. But Andrew nailed, I can easily understand all the contents he said and I really like how he put everything in a smooth logic flow. This podcast is a masterpiece. I feel so lucky that I find this podcast.

[carlosmares]

Bro i know you dont know me but you changed my life. Saved it really. My adhd was eating me alive, i was an alcoholic, a junkie and i hated everything. Im sober now, and im in therapy….my family doesnt hate me anymore. Im actually liking life….idk anyway thank you so much. Your doing great work.

[motomow]

I'm a recovering meth addict...3 months Sober today! Thank You Doctor Huberman for giving me the tools necessary to get my "Happy" back. Your videos on addiction and dopamine have delivered the skills I desperately sought to remain an inspiration to those I deeply care for who still suffer from addiction and who WERE too scared to take the initial steps necessary to a longer, healthier and happier future. Seeing how much happier I am and how fast my life is blossoming at 44-after doing Meth Since I was 15-is blowing minds and helping people I know who had given up rethink they're potential. Your Amazing and I want to thank you for changing peoples lives in such a noble, infectious way. Sir you are a blessing! Thank you for saving my life!

[JuggOGtv]

Just this video alone rationalized my depression. I realize now I've been chasing that "dopamine hit" most of my young adult life. Thank you, Andrew Huberman and the neuroscience community.