Serotonin And Dopamine

Question: Why/how do chemicals like endorphins, serotonin, dopamine make me feel pleasure? What is pleasure? What am I feeling when I experience it? How do chemicals provide me with something as crazy and bizzare as pleasure? How long ago did species evolve the ability to feel pleasure?

Answer: The exact relationship between structures and phenomena in the brain and our perceptions and experiences is still murky, and is an active area of research in neuroscience. However, it seems to be that our experiences such as pleasure are emergent properties of the activity of networks of neurons in the brain. To some extent, these networks are localized to specific regions in the brain. For example, neurosurgeons have found that when electrodes are used to lightly stimulate various parts of the brain during brain surgery, there are some areas you can stimulate and the patients report overwhelming feelings of pleasure and euphoria. These brain regions are closely tied to networks that use the neurotransmitters you mentioned. When the activity of these neurotransmitters are altered, either by increasing or decreasing the global concentration, or by more local effects, they can trigger activity in the pleasure regions of the brain. From an evolutionary standpoint, pleasure is a mechanism by which the brain reinforces itself. In other words, if an animal engages in some behavior which produces a desirable outcome (say, securing access to food or a mate), then the brain, upon perceiving that outcome, should engage mechanisms that make the animal more likely to repeat that behavior. The type of reinforcement we call pleasure is not the only means of reinforcing behavior; for instance, motor learning can occur via relatively simple mechanisms, which probably do not require engaging the pleasure system. But the mechanistic homologue of what we call pleasure in humans is probably evolutionarily quite old, and may be shared among all vertebrates. Whether other animals actually have the same experience of pleasure that we do is much more difficult to say, as actually experiencing pleasure (rather than merely exhibiting behavioral reinforcement from the "pleasure" system) may require the activity of other, more recently evolved brain regions as well. My personal belief (which is not as yet substantiated by hard evidence) is that the experience of pleasure is probably shared among most or all mammals, birds, and reptiles, but maybe not amphibians or fish.

Question: What part of the brain uses Serotonin and Dopamine? What part of the brain has/uses/controls the serotonin and dopamine neurons in the body? Please help! I need this for a project due Monday!

Answer: III. GENERAL COMMENTS ABOUT NEUROTRANSMITTERS The three major categories of substances that act as neurotransmitters are (1) amino acids (primarily glutamic acid, GABA, aspartic acid & glycine), (2) peptides (vasopressin, somatostatin, neurotensin, etc.) and (3) monoamines (norepinephrine, dopamine & serotonin) plus acetylcholine. The major "workhorse" neurotransmitters of the brain are glutamic acid (=glutamate) and GABA. The monoamines & acetylcholine perform specialized modulating functions, often confined to specific structures. The peptides perform specialized functions in the hypothalamus or act as co-factors elsewhere in the brain. [For a well-organized categorization of neurotransmitters, see Neurotransmitter (Wikipedia).] Although there are many neurotransmitters in the central nervous system, the peripheral nervous system has only two: acetylcholine and norepinephrine. Why are there so many brain neurotransmitters? Because the functions performed by brain neurotransmitters are not as uniform as they might superficially appear. Some (like glutamate) are excitatory, whereas others (like GABA) are primarily inhibitory. In many cases (as with dopamine) it is the receptor which determines whether the transmitter is excitatory or inhibitory. Receptors can also determine whether a transmitter acts rapidly by direct action on an ion channel (eg, nicotinic acetylcholine receptors) or slowly, by a second-messenger system that allows for synaptic plasticity (eg, muscarinic acetylcholine receptors). Speed & mechanism of transmitter inactivation after the signal has been sent is also a factor. There are probably also costs & benefits involved in synthesizing, transporting and recycling various neurotranmitters in the differing chemical mileus of the brain. Many of these issues will become more clear in discussing the synthesis, distribution and function of the major brain neurotransmitters. there is much more information on this subject that can be found on the source page listed below. all information obtained came from the source listed below. hope I helped

Question: Is it possible to release (fair amounts of) dopamine/serotonin without external stimulation? Without the use of meditation, music,drugs, exercise, etc., is it possible to release dopamine, serotonin, 5-HT, etc.? I know I made use of "etc." a bit in this question, but i'm sure you can manage. Could some form of meditation achieve this? And finally, are the release of these (not any one in particular) chemicals in the brain released only upon stimulation of some kind?

Answer: The short answer is yes, but you first ask "without the use of meditation", and then ask if "some form of meditation" could achieve this. What's the goal here? If we are interested in practical experiences, we should note that chemistry does not equal brain function. For example, under excess of certain neurotransmitters, neurons simply respond by becoming less sensitive to the neurotransmitter. So, if the goal is euphoria, having a visionary experience, etc., as in the case with many drugs, its effectiveness hinges on the fact that the changes in levels are novel, in contrast to building up tolerance. This is why psychedelic agents such as LSD cannot be continuously administered and retain effect. If you want changes in behavior and attitude, essentially mental practice is the main tool, building up selective neural pathways by way of neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is essentially the result of practice and learning, meaning that people who worry a lot become better at being neurotic, and people who practice restraint have a calmer demeanor. This is due to actual changes in brain physiology with time and experience. If you have a base-line deficit, say from parkinson's disease, then meditation is unlikely to help with symptoms, although it may help you deal with the disease. I think you may be focused too greatly on external agents (or internal agents as external agents) affecting the mind, which has become a common materialistic viewpoint (for example, in Alec's answer above it seems emotion is refered to as an "outside stimulus"). But it should be remembered that internal events, noumena, such as desires and the imagination are also clear forms of stimulation. (I'm sure you have awoke sweating and panicked from a nightmare.) The boundaries are not clear. Anger releases adrenaline, but is it that a specific situation releases chemicals making a person angry, or does a person allow themselves to become angry based on previous experience? If the first case were true, all people in similar situations would become equally angry, and this is clearly false, as some people are obviously more quick to anger. The first case would also suggest that it would be impossible for a person to learn how to control their temper. While a contemporary sense of unaccountability and learned helplessness facilitate this view, and certainly behavioral modification is difficult for most, it is not impossible. Even more strikingly, placebo and nocebo effects are clear indicators in medicine that experience and the will shape both the prevalence of these different compounds as well as their effects on the brain.

Question: Do certain people have naturally high levels of Serotonin and Dopamine? I know that the biological cause of depression is constant low levels of Serotonin and Dopamine, but surely certain people must produce high amounts of these chemicals in the brain or whatever and therefore be more upbeat and cheerful all the time. Is this true? Have they ever carried out studies on the subject?

Answer: Yes many studies have been carried out. People from different age groups, cultures, demographics, geographical areas, married vs. unmarried etc. all have different levels, amounts or happiness, health and longevity.

Question: Green tea increases serotonin and dopamine or decreases them? 2 websites said completely opposite things. Which one is correct? One said it increases the activation of GABA which them lowers serotonin and dopamine and contributes to their breakdown, and then another website says green tea increases overall serotonin and dopamine levels (with no real mentions of GABA).

Answer: Green tea contains catechins (ECGC) which help to improve methylation in the body. Methylation is one of the processes by which DNA is transcribed and translated. When methylation is hypo or hyperactive it can result in an imbalance of neurotransmitters (such as dopamine and seratonin). Therefore what green tea catechins help to do is MODULATE methylation so that the proper amounts and structures of neurotransmitters are produced. So I would think that whether you have too much dopamine or too little dopamine, catechins would simply help to bring this neurotransmitter to a normal range. Look for some research being done on catechins (ECGC) and neurotransmitters on www.pubmed.com.

Question: can a tox screen really come back positive for LSD? or just increased dopamine/serotonin levels due to ingesti? ... due to ingestion of LSD? (because a dose only need be the size of the tip of a pin) and if that is the case, wouldn't people who meditate or are schizophrenic come back with alot of false positives?

Answer: No screening or drug test will be finding the lsd. The dosage is measured in micrograms and it's out of your system within a day.

Question: Is there a way to test my serotonin and dopamine levels? I'm tired of my doctors changing my medicine and I think that if they knew what needed replaced it would be easier to know what I needed to take. I'm bipolar 1.

Answer: Unfortunately not. While there are a lot of hoax practitioners who will claim that they can measure it using urine or blood, both of these are useless scams. The closest we can get at the moment is using techniques like fMRI and SPECT imaging to gauge the behavior of the neurons in particular pieces of brain anatomy. This is however, ferociously expensive, used only in research, and even when these behaviors are known, it does not tell a doctor what drugs are appropriate. Unfortunately, psych medication requires trial and error at the moment, there are no diagnostic tests that are a substitute for this.

Question: How long do serotonin and dopamine receptors take to grow back if u fried them? by recreational dxm use Well we'll see. i'll let u guys know

Answer: It's hard to say when u would recover. The brain can't repair damaged cells, so if those receptors were really fried, they aren't coming back. However, the brain creates new pathways all the time, so the effects of this damage may self-correct as your brain finds new ways to transmit the information that any receptors that remain may send. Or maybe it won't happen--it's hard to say.

Question: Is it all about serotonin and dopamine? I read recently that the nicotine in smoking causes the release of dopamine, thus the basis of the addiction. I went on a SRI medication some years ago, and that releaved depression. Does sex release one or both of these chemicals? How about caffeine, chocolate? Over eating gives a gluecose rush. Is the joy of life itself composed of the pursuit of one or all of these chemicals?

Answer: Yes and no. Except you left out norepinephrine. The drugs bring about a temporary good feeling. Long lasting feeling good takes some work. The joy of life is found in this book (that literally saved my life from suicidal depression): "The Feeling Good Handbook" by David Burns, MD. Since overcoming depression, I have learned all sorts of ways to apply the techniques toward a happier and healthier life despite having diabetes and fibromyalgia.

Question: How to increase dopamine and serotonin? 3 months ago I smoked weed and that disorted my serotonin and dopamine. Now I have the following symptoms: -anhedonia (inability to feel pleasure) -the inability to feel love and sense attachment to another -a lack of remorse about actions -distractibility -depression -poor memory -Loss of personality -numb to emotions ... How to regulate my dopamine and serotonin? This is like hell to me :(

Answer: To activate your serotonin, three essential vitamins are needed. In an essential process called methylation, three key vitamins are needed to add methyl groups to your serotonin and make DNA...vitamin B6, B12 and folate. Niacin (B3) is very helpful with depression. Since all the B vitamins work together, a Vitamin B complex is recommended. Omega 3 fish oil has also shown improvement with serotonin. The supplement 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) is a substance your body creates from an amino acid called tryptophan...5-HTP, in turn, is used to create serotonin. A natural way to raise levels of tryptophan is carbohydrates from fruits, vegetables, whole grains. Also magnesium (as magnesium citrate), St. John's Wort Extract and SAMe are beneficial. Other food sources for B vitamins are: nuts, meats, dairy products, yeast extracts (brewers' yeast, marmite, vegemite), bananas, potatoes, dried apricots, dates and figs, milk, eggs, cheese, yoghurt, fish, brown rice, wheat germ, wholegrain cereals, sunflower seeds. Sunlight also increases serotonin. For dopamine - Vitamin B6, Selenium, Mucuna Pruriens extract, DL-Phenylalanine, Beta-Phenylethylamine, N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine, N-Acetyl L-Cysteine, Blueberry extract and Alpha Lipoic Acid. Natural products are apples, bananas, cheese, chicken, fish, watermelon, eggs, wheatgerm and beans. Increasing dopamine & serotonin: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_substances_increase_dopamine_and_serotonin Increasing seratonin naturally: http://www.ehow.com/how_5413029_increase-serotonin-naturally.html Increasing dopomine naturally: http://www.medhelp.org/user_journals/show/14818 Foods and vitamins: http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/focus/nutrition/facts/vitamins_minerals/vitamin.htm

Question: What do dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and vasopressin have in common?

Answer: all of them are nurotransmitters...oxytocin and vasopressin are hormones too serotonin and dopamine are amines....while oxytocin and vasopressin are peptide, serotonin and dopamine are synthesized in the cytoplasm of locus ceruleus and substantia nigra repectively....while oxytocin and vasopressin are synthesied only the hypothalamus( para ventriculara nmd supra optic nuclei respectively) so u see there is much in common of oxytocin and vasopressin. serotonin and doapmine have few things in common themselves

Question: Why does MDMA effect serotonin and dopamine but not other cells? References please!

Answer: Neither serotonin nor dopamine is a type of cell ("but not other cells").

Question: Are fluctuating levels of dopamine, serotonin and noradrenaline responsible for bipolar disorder?

Answer: Yeah... something like that..... they don't know exactly but the theory is that all of the chemicals in the brain, those you mentioned and norepinephrine, gaba, etc..... are responsible for mood and other brain function. They are not sure whether it is an imbalance of these chemicals or a malfunction in the cells that utilize these chemicals but they are somehow responsible. A normal person is able to keep steady levels (or use properly) of these chemicals but the brain of someone with Bipolar is not..... The reason it can be so hard to treat is because there is no way of knowing exactly which chemicals are deficient with each person and so it is trial and error with meds until you find the one(s) that correct your particular imbalance..........

Question: Is norepinephrine involved in MOTIVATION in particular, or is that more restricted to dopamine and serotonin? I understand that dopamine clearly has a role in motivation, and serotonin has roles in motivation-kind of realms like depression. I've just heard that SNRI's bring more motivation to the table compared to SSRI's and was wondering if taking a norepinephrine agonist like pseudoephedrine occasionally while on an SSRI might increase motivation. Any ideas?

Answer: Researchers really have very little idea how any of this works, and for FDA approval, drug companies have to put down some ideas on how a med might be working, so they come up with some gobbldygook that they know will turn out to be wrong in the end (because it is so preliminary) but then their marketing dept, comprised of science illiterate MBA's and advertising people, take this preliminary explanation and run with it, as if it is scientific fact. Pseudoephedrine tends to cause anxiety problems. I have found that adderall (generic) has helped me get maybe 20% more done, but at the cost of severely increased anxiety and more trouble with angry outbursts from my bipolar disorder - I break stuff from time to time, like furniture and electronics etc - but if I don't take the adderall, I can't cook supper more than maybe once a week. A recent study found that SSRI's and SSNI's act as placebos for most people anyhow. See Newsweek from about 3 weeks ago for more - the article on antidepressants is probably posted at their website. It's very interesting reading. Or google antidepressants placebo and find the original study. It was done in 2008, a more complete study than the original which was a few years before that.

Question: How does a doctor check my serotonin/dopamine levels? I am 17 years old, and really depressed. I have NO justification for my depression at all. I have no justification for wanting to self-harm or my eating disorder. I want a doctor to check my brain chemistry. I want to ensure I have the correct amount of serotonin. dopamine. endorphins. all that jazz. do they do this? I just want to know that my depression has no underlying biological reason because I am trying SO hard to overcome it, but it's proving near impossible. has anyone had their brain chemistry checked somehow? how does this work? thank youuu :)

Answer: That depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain is not a fact. Doctors do not know if depression causes the chemical imbalance or if the chemical imbalance causes depression. They only know that people who are depressed usually have low levels of certain neurotransmitters. Doctors cannot test your levels of these neurotransmitters without you being dead and them cutting up your brain. There is no test to find out whether or not you have a chemical imbalance. There is no physical medical test for depression at all. You can have a blood test to eliminate possible illnesses that may be causing your symptoms, but there is no blood test for depression. "The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is published by the American Psychiatric Association and provides diagnostic criteria for mental disorders. It is used in the United States and in varying degrees around the world, by clinicians, researchers, psychiatric drug regulation agencies, health insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and policy makers." Your doctor will likely use the DSM-IV as a guide to determine whether or not you are suffering from depression. Your answers to any questions will be cross-referenced with a checklist of symptoms.

Question: Which amino acids to dopamine and serotonin come from? Amines that are neurotransmitters and hormones can be derived from amino acids. Dopamine and serotonin are 2 such neurotransmitters. Which amino acids do they come from? Any help would be appreciated, thankS!

Answer: uummm ask google... bing??:))