Most widely known as the 'feel good chemical,' dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the pleasure area of the brain's reward system that plays a role in many important body functions, including movement, memory, and pleasurable reward and motivation.
But do you really know what Dopamine really is, and what it actually does in your brain? Or how it works in other parts of your body, or even how other life forms use it?
Dopamine is made up of a benzene ring, which is one of the most important chemical structures that carbon based life forms need to exist. Dopamine is one of the oldest neurotransmitters (around 500 million years). Dopamine is found in a wide variety of both plants and animals, and it has a profound effect on the behaviors of all.
Having the right amount of dopamine is important both for your body and your brain. High or low dopamine levels are associated with diseases including Parkinson's disease, restless legs syndrome and ADHD. Treating dopamine-related diseases can also cause issues. For example, treatments for Parkinson’s can cause schizophrenia-like symptoms, all because one tiny chemical in your brain is out of balance.
The way your body makes and uses dopamine can actually be predicted based on your DNA, which makes some of us the losers when it comes to the dopamine gene lottery. However, more research is needed to determine how and why each individual use of dopamine is different.
Listen now to learn everything you’ve ever wanted to know about dopamine, your motivation to do anything.
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