What Is A Dopamine Molecule And How Does It Affect Me?
You've likely heard of dopamine before, but you may not know what it is or what it does. Dopamine plays a role in numerous bodily functions, including our reward system. Learning about dopamine and its effect on everyday life may help you make the most of the way this chemical affects our behaviors.
Below, we’ll discuss the various functions of dopamine, conditions that are associated with altered dopamine levels, and ways that you can get help with challenges that may be caused by changes in dopamine levels.
What is a dopamine molecule?
Dopamine is a chemical that is produced organically in your body. It also exists in animals and plants, which means it's something we have in common with all living things around us.
As a hormone, dopamine is produced in the adrenal glands, above the kidneys. However, it’s also produced as a neurohormone in the hypothalamus area of the brain.
Dopamine molecule pathways in the brain
There are different pathways throughout the brain that are used by dopamine, and each of these pathways works with a different part of your brain activity. First, there's a pathway that provides you with motivation, and it tends to be related to reward-based behaviors. For example, if you know that a specific behavior is going to get you a specific reward (dopamine), you may be more likely to complete the behavior. You likely feel happier and more excited about the outcome and what you're going to get as a result. As you engage in pleasurable behavior, such as eating or drinking, you tend to receive more dopamine.
Dopamine molecules: Function in the brain and body
There are far more functions that dopamine can play a role in. For example, it can inhibit the release of norepinephrine and help to increase sodium excretion or urine excretion. It's also able to reduce the activity of lymphocytes. Because it's produced throughout the body and affects so many different areas of the body, dopamine is considered an important chemical for your overall health and well-being.
What happens without dopamine molecules in the body and the brain?
When there isn't enough dopamine in the body, it may contribute to a variety of health problems. For example, a lack of dopamine in the brain can occur in those with Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, restless leg syndrome, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Many parts of your body need some dopamine to function. Whether it uses that dopamine as a transmitter of information or to help with other normal processes, it’s something that your body needs. For this reason, researchers have found several uses for artificial dopamine as well as for dopamine antagonists.
Medicinal dopamine drugs
Artificial dopamine and dopamine antagonists have been used as a treatment for a variety of disorders, including Parkinson’s disease. Medicinal dopamine may help those who have low levels of dopamine, and they are especially used for things like low blood pressure, a slow heart rate, and even cardiac arrest.
Despite the usefulness of medicinal dopamine and dopamine antagonists, it’s recommended that you not start taking dopamine or other medications without a physician’s approval.
Getting help when experiencing low levels of molecular dopamine
If you're experiencing low levels of dopamine, it can lead to changes in your mood and behavior. It may be helpful to speak with a physician if you experience moods or feelings that seem different to you. If you find yourself more anxious, frustrated, angry, sad, or even excited or happy, you might consider talking to a doctor about your symptoms. Sometimes you may feel these emotions more or less than others, but if you seem to go through streaks where the feelings are strong, it may be a sign of something more.
You may find it helpful to also talk to a mental health professional about any changes in mood or behavior. If you don’t feel comfortable seeing a therapist in person, you might try online therapy, which many peer-reviewed studies have shown to be effective. One study showed that online therapy is effective for several conditions that can lead to changes in mood, including depression.
With an online therapy service like BetterHelp, you can speak with a licensed therapist from home via live chat, audio, or videoconferencing. You can also contact them at any time through in-app messaging, and they’ll respond as soon as they can. This may be helpful if you experience changes in mood in between sessions as a result of dopamine levels or any other causes.
Takeaway
Frequently asked questions
What happens when dopamine receptors are stimulated?
What happens when dopamine receptors are stimulated depends on what type of receptor it is.
There are five types of dopamine receptors throughout the human brain, central nervous system (specifically in areas like the hippocampal dentate gyrus subventricular zone, basal ganglia, prefrontal cortex, and the nucleus accumbens), and in some other locations, including the blood vessels, kidneys, heart, adrenal glands, GI tract, and in the immune system.
Each receptor has a different function, primarily in the sympathetic nervous system, but some do overlap. D1 is involved in impulse control, some types of movement, attention, memory, and kidney function, while D2 is involved in movement, sleep, memory, attention, and learning.
D3 plays an essential role in impulse control, sleep, attention, and cognition; D4 in memory, cognition, impulse control, fear, sleep, and attention; and D5 in cognition, decision-making, and cognition.
When dopamine binds to a dopamine receptor, the receptor responds by interacting with various proteins and stimulates or inhibits certain enzymes. These changes regulate the neurotransmission of other neurotransmitters in the body.
What is the molecular structure of dopamine?
This incredibly important molecule has a catechol structure (a technical term for a benzene ring with two hydroxyl side groups) and a single amine group attached by an ethyl chain. It is closely related to neurotransmitters like norepinephrine, epinephrine, and serotonin. Humans, along with most animals and plants, produce dopamine.
What drugs release dopamine in the brain?
Various medications can affect the dopamine system.
Dopamine-releasing agents are substances that stimulate the release of dopamine in the brain. These drugs can act as stimulants and may be used to treat medical conditions like ADHD. Many addictive drugs are also considered dopamine-releasing agents, including amphetamine, methamphetamine, and MDMA.
Dopamine agonists also activate central dopamine receptors in various brain areas, but they do not increase dopamine release. Instead, these drugs mimic dopamine by fitting into the same receptors. The cells in the body cannot tell the difference, so they have the same effect and act in the same way as dopamine. This type of drug is used to treat Parkinson’s disease, Huntington's disease, and other neurological diseases. Dopamine agonists can also be used to treat type 2 diabetes because dopamine reduces insulin production.
There are also medications called dopamine antagonists, which block dopamine receptors without activating them. These drugs essentially prevent certain parts of the brain from activating and are used to treat mental health conditions like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, and psychosis.
Other drugs that affect dopamine are monoamine oxidase inhibitors or MAOIs. Monoamine oxidase is an enzyme that breaks down dopamine and other neurotransmitters in the brain. MAOIs are a type of antidepressant that breaks down monoamine oxidase, increasing the amount of dopamine. These medications are no longer widely prescribed as they have several safety concerns, including side effects and dietary restrictions.
What is the function of molecular dopamine?
Molecular dopamine has various functions in the body. This neurotransmitter acts as a chemical messenger, communicating between the nervous system and the rest of the body. Dopamine can also act as a hormone. Whether it is behaving as a neurotransmitter or a hormone determines its function.
For example, as a neurotransmitter, dopamine plays a significant role in various processes, like pleasure, rewards, motivation, attention, mood, and learning.
In dopamine's role as a hormone, it is released directly into the bloodstream. It plays a role in the fight or flight response, increases urine and salt removal, reduces insulin production, and slows GI movement.
Dopamine can also significantly affect blood pressure. At high doses, it constricts the blood vessels, which can cause high blood pressure. At low doses, it dilates the blood vessels, which lowers blood pressure. Critically ill hospitalized patients may receive a continuous intravenous drip of dopamine hydrochloride to treat low blood pressure or cardiac arrest or increase urinary output.
What stimulates the release of dopamine?
When released as a neurotransmitter, dopamine is released by the brain after you engage in a behavior that feels beneficial. The brain generally releases dopamine in small bursts to help you associate what you just did with a feeling of pleasure that makes you more likely to do it again. For example, exercise causes the brain to release dopamine to encourage you to keep exercising. Dopamine also plays a role in drug addiction. Nicotine, opioids, and some other drugs cause a flood of dopamine rather than the typical small bursts, giving the brain a significantly more intense reward than usual and making you want to repeat the action. Eventually, the body will require more and more of the drug to achieve this same feeling, which can lead to someone taking a lethal dose.
You have no control over when and how much dopamine your brain releases, but a dopamine imbalance can affect the brain in many ways. Too much dopamine can result in impulse-control problems and increase competitiveness and aggression. Not enough dopamine can make you feel less motivated or excited; at extreme lows, you may not feel motivated enough to get out of bed.
Is dopamine the molecule of addiction?
Dopamine can reinforce drug addiction. Experts once thought that dopamine was directly responsible for euphoria, but scientists now believe that it has more to do with repetition and reinforcement.
Pleasure is how the brain reinforces beneficial behaviors. Dopamine neurons send a burst of dopamine to increase the chances that we will repeat an activity, changing neuronal firing and releasing the dopamine signal into the synaptic cleft, where it acts on a target neuron to elicit a response. This changes connectivity in the brain, causing habit formation.
Drugs can affect the dopaminergic neurons, nerve cells that produce dopamine, causing a flood rather than just a burst of dopamine activity. This action creates a powerful connection between consuming the drug and pleasure.
Is dopamine the molecule of motivation?
You can describe dopamine as a molecule of motivation. Research shows that dopamine signals play “a central role in reward-guided learning and motivation.” From an evolutionary perspective, dopamine transmission is a biological activity that may be “necessary to activate organisms, which in turn allows them to exert effort and gain positive outcomes.”
How does dopamine make us happy?
Dopamine itself does not really make us feel happy. Rather than making you feel pleasure, dopamine makes you want to do the thing that causes pleasure again.
What does dopamine do?
Dopamine plays various roles in the body, depending on the receptors it interacts with. In addition to being involved in motivation, repetition, and reinforcement, it plays a role in a variety of functions, including locomotion, sleep, memory, cognition, impulse control, learning, fear, sleep, blood pressure, urinary output, and insulin regulation.
Is dopamine good or bad?
Like other chemicals in the body, dopamine is not necessarily good or bad. It is a naturally occurring substance that plays a role in various functions, some of which may be considered “good” or “bad.” For example, dopamine may be involved in drug addiction, but it is also released during exercise.
Signs of low dopamine can include depression, anxiety, mood swings, and reduced pleasure. Other symptoms may be physical in nature, like tremors, slowed movements, or sleep disturbances.
If you think you have low dopamine levels, talk to your doctor or healthcare provider. For some people, a healthy lifestyle that includes doing things they enjoy, exercising, and eating a diet rich in magnesium and tyrosine may help. Tyrosine is an amino acid that is converted into dopamine once it is absorbed and travels to the brain. Some foods that may help increase dopamine include green leafy vegetables, almonds, oatmeal, and chicken.
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