"Dopamine is the currency of success and pleasure. Manage it wisely to build lasting motivation"

<ol><li>Movement: loss can lead to e.g. Parkinsons Disease</li><li>Reward: Drives the brain's reward system, reinforcing pleasurable behaviors.</li><li>Motivation: Fuels desire and persistence toward goals.</li><li>Attention: Enhances focus and concentration.</li><li>Learning: Facilitates memory and skill acquisition through reward feedback.</li><li>Mood: Influences feelings of pleasure, happiness, and emotional regulation.</li><li>Addiction: Plays a key role in developing addictive behaviors.</li><li>Prolactin Control: Inhibits the release of prolactin (Important for e.g. Libido)</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Cognition: Supports executive functions like decision-making and problem-solving.</li></ol>

What are Dopamines Key Roles?

Baseline Dopamine: The steady, resting level of dopamine that regulates your mood, energy, and motivation throughout the day. A healthy baseline supports sustained focus and drive.Dopamine Peaks: Short bursts of dopamine that occur during rewarding activities or experiences, providing temporary boosts in pleasure and excitement. Post-Peak Drop: After a dopamine peak, levels often drop below baseline, leading to feelings of demotivation until the system resets.-> Overloading on dopamine peaks can reduce baseline levels over time, leading to a state where normal activities feel unfulfilling.

1. Dopamine Baselines vs. Peaks

Dopamine is not just released when you achieve a reward—it also spikes during anticipation. This explains why looking forward to an event or milestone feels motivating.Delayed gratification amplifies anticipation, leading to a more sustained release of dopamine over time compared to instant gratification.Takeaway: Actively setting long-term goals and working toward them builds a healthier and more sustained dopamine respons﻿e.

2. The Role of Anticipation in Dopamine

Dopamine release is strongly tied to effort, especially when pursuing challenging goals. Completing hard tasks generates a higher sense of satisfaction than passive or easy rewards.When effort is associated with reward, the dopamine system reinforces the value of hard work, improving motivation over time.Takeaway: Engage in effort-based activities regularly to strengthen your dopamine system and build resilience.

3. Dopamine and Effort

Layering dopamine refers to engaging in multiple stimulating activities simultaneously (e.g., eating while watching TV or scrolling social media). This overstimulates the dopamine system, making future rewards feel dull or less pleasurable.Excessive reliance on high-dopamine activities (like video games, social media, or junk food) can lead to desensitization, requiring more extreme stimulation for the same level of satisfaction.Takeaway: Avoid multitasking or overindulging in activities that excessively spike dopamine.

4. The Danger of Dopamine Overload

Celebrate Effort, Not Just Results:Acknowledge and reward the process of trying, even if the outcome isn't perfect. This reinforces dopamine release through effort rather than solely through success.That means actively saying to yourself "Good Job. I'm proud of you for studying/working an hour although you were tired"Do this instead of working toward the reward at the end. This way the actual effort feels more pleasureful through the dopamine release caused by the acknoledgement.

Most importantly!

Limit Social Media:Avoid mindless scrolling, especially as a filler activity. Set boundaries, such as using social media for a set period or purpose.Use Dopamine Peaks Strategically:Reserve high-dopamine activities (e.g., gaming, eating favorite foods) for after completing productive tasks. This strengthens the association between effort and reward.Delay Gratification:Intentionally delay rewards to increase anticipation, which naturally boosts dopamine. For example, plan a treat or celebration for the end of a challenging project.

Applications in your Everyday Life

Focus on One Activity at a Time:Avoid layering dopamine sources, such as watching TV while eating or listening to music while working on social media.Reset Dopamine Baselines:Incorporate habits like regular physical activity, sufficient sleep, and screen-free downtime to allow the dopamine system to reset.Practice "Dopamine Fasting":Periodically take breaks from stimulating activities (e.g., social media, junk food) to recalibrate your dopamine system.

More Applications in your Everyday Life

"Focus on the process, not the peak, to make dopamine work for you."

Dopamine is an immensely powerful chemical that we all make in our brain and body. Its key roles is to modulate motivation, movement, our reward system as well as focus, attention and our perception of time. Here are a few tools to use everyday on how to control your dopamine release in order to increase drive, motivation and focus. 

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.  For the full show notes, visit hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AG1 (Athletic Greens): https://athleticgreens.com/huberman LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/huberman Supplements from Momentous https://www.livemomentous.com/huberman Timestamps (00:00:00) Introduction & Tool 1 to Induce Lasting Dopamine (00:05:04) Sponsors: AG1, LMNT (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 Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac Disclaimer

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Huberman Lab discusses neuroscience: how our brain and its connections with the organs of our body control our perceptions, our behaviors, and our health. We also discuss existing and emerging tools for measuring and changing how our nervous system works. Dr. Andrew Huberman is a tenured professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. His laboratory studies neural regeneration, neuroplasticity, and brain states such as stress, focus, fear, and optimal performance. For more than 20 years, Dr. Huberman has consistently published original research findings and review articles in top-level peer-reviewed journals, including Nature, Science, Cell, Neuron, and Current Biology. He is a regular member of several National Institutes of Health review panels and a Fellow of the McKnight Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts. Dr. Huberman regularly consults for technology development companies, professional athletic organizations, and various units of U.S. and Canadian Special Operations.

Controlling Your Dopamine For Motivation, Focus & Satisfaction

Babak Sahebkar