Affonso Armigliatto <affonsoarmigliatto@gmail.

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Tools to Manage Dopamine and Improve Motivation & Drive

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Huberman Lab <neuralnetwork@hubermanlab.com> 7 de setembro de 2022 20:05

Para: affonsoarmigliatto@gmail.com

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NEURALNETWORK
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Thank you for joining the Huberman Lab Podcast Neural Network — a once-a-month
newsletter with science and science-supported tools for everyday life. The purpose
of this newsletter is to provide you with actionable information in condensed form.

Dopamine is a molecule in the brain and body that is closely linked to our sense of
motivation. It can also enhance our depth of focus and lower our threshold for
taking action toward specific goals. The simplest way to think about dopamine is
that when our dopamine levels are elevated, we tend to focus our attention on
outward goals — the things we want — and we feel motivated to pursue them.
“Dopamine is about wanting, not about having,” said Dr. Anna Lembke, a professor
of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and the chief of the Addiction Medicine Dual
Diagnosis Clinic at Stanford, on the Huberman Lab Podcast (and she is 100%
correct). Contrast that with serotonin, which is associated not so much with “wanting”
but with feelings of well-being about what we already have. These are
generalizations of course — dopamine and serotonin do other things too, but they
are accurate, nonetheless. It is hard to overstate how much dopamine levels shape
our perception of life, our emotions, and how capable we perceive ourselves to be —
when dopamine levels are low, we feel unmotivated, derive less pleasure from
pursuits and feel physically tired. This newsletter will detail how to manage
dopamine levels to enhance motivation.

Part I: Managing Dopamine to Sustain Motivation

We have a baseline of dopamine, and it can spike or drop based on various actions,
compounds we ingest or even our thoughts. Our baseline dopamine levels are
influenced by many factors, including genetics, behaviors, sleep, nutrition and the
level of dopamine you experienced on previous days. It is critically important to
maintain sufficient levels of baseline dopamine to sustain day-to-day motivation. We
don’t want the baseline too low or too high.

We can establish a healthy level of baseline dopamine by:

1. Viewing early morning sunlight for 10-30 minutes daily. (Don’t wear
sunglasses for this, and don’t stare at the sun; eyeglasses and contacts are
acceptable). This causes the release of dopamine. If done consistently, it will
also increase levels of gene expression for certain dopamine receptors. If
you’re up to it, take a 1-3 minute cold shower, as cold as you can safely
tolerate, as well; this is known to increase baseline dopamine for hours
dramatically.
2. Eat tyrosine-rich foods such as red meats, nuts or hard fermented cheese.
Tyrosine is an amino acid and a building block of dopamine — a diet rich in
tyrosine will sustain your body’s natural dopamine production. You’ll need to
consider the caloric and other contents of these foods, of course. It’s easy to
find plant-based sources too. Simply do a web search for them.
3. Avoid melatonin supplements, as these can decrease dopamine levels
and can disrupt your normal sleep patterns. Melatonin is only recommended
for jet lag. There are better options.
4. Avoid viewing bright lights between 10 p.m.-4 a.m. This is essential, as it
has been shown to activate a brain region called the habenula and drastically
reduce the amount of circulating dopamine in your system. If you must view
light at these times, make it very dim. Once in a while is okay, but don’t make it
a habit. (If you are a shift worker or want to know how to deal with jet lag, listen
to this episode.)
5. Ingest caffeine (approximately 100-400mg) in the form of coffee, tea or
whatever form you prefer. This will cause a mild increase in dopamine but also
increases the availability of dopamine receptors, so your body is more
sensitive to circulating dopamine. Don’t do this too close to sleep. I avoid
caffeine after 2 p.m., with rare exceptions.
Part II: Managing Dopamine Peaks
“Success breeds success” is true, but if you don’t manage the dopamine associated
with the pursuit and your wins, your dopamine baseline and the dopamine you
experience from reaching milestones will start to diminish over time, and you’ll feel
far less satisfaction from, well, everything. This is a common problem, but there are
ways to overcome or even avoid it altogether.

Leverage the power of dopamine released by reaching milestones to increase

ongoing motivation by:

1. Use (Randomly) an Intermittent Reward Timing (RIRT). This is the most

powerful schedule for dopamine release and staying motivated. The casinos
use it to take people’s money. It works 100% of the time. You can use RIRT to
your advantage, to stay motivated in any pursuit. The key is to celebrate your
wins, but do not celebrate every win. When you succeed in reaching a
milestone, sometimes enjoy that; other times (at random), just keep going.
Even better, associate “winning” with the effort process itself. That’s the holy
grail of dopamine management for success. It won’t make you dull or unhappy;
it will make everything easier and more pleasurable, without the peaks and
valleys of dopamine that external-reward-driven people experience, and you’ll
obtain all the external rewards anyway.
2. Remember that Dopamine is Subjective. Remember, the brain does not
know external rewards — no dopamine is dripped in your brain — it only
knows the associations of events with internal chemical (in this case,
dopamine) release. Don't underestimate the extent to which the dopamine
system and the sense of whether you are on the right track are under your
cognitive control. The prefrontal cortex (the executive control portion of your
brain) is part of the dopamine pathway and provides subjective, top-down
control (a “belief effect”) for motivation levels. These are not placebo or small
effects. Telling yourself you are moving toward your goals is a huge stimulator
of dopamine release — and under your control. Of course, you can’t lie to
yourself and say you’ve won when you lost, but as you progress toward
milestones, register it in your mind.
3. Spotlighting. Dopamine interacts with the visual system. Dr. Emily
Balcetis, a professor of psychology at New York University (NYU), discussed
on the Huberman Lab Podcast how physically focusing your visual attention on
a specific point (or “spotlight”) will help maintain focus during bouts of goal
work. When you focus on a particular point, a medley of neurochemicals
(dopamine, epinephrine and others) are recruited and put you into a state of
readiness and clear focus.
 4. Don’t Layer Too Many Sources of Dopamine. When we layer too many
sources of dopamine (e.g., preworkout energy drinks, plus music, plus
friends/social connections, plus nootropics also known as "smart drugs," etc.),
it can increase dopamine and our energy and motivate us to work hard toward
a goal. But stacking all these dopamine-triggering sources causes a crash
afterward, ultimately undermining our longer-term motivation and continued
drive. Instead, try to do some workouts without music or with just caffeine.
Change it up.
5. Supplement to Microspike Dopamine. There are compounds sold over
the counter that potently increase dopamine but not so much that they cause
the problems associated with illicit or prescription (Rx) drugs that do the same.
L-Tyrosine (500-1000mg) taken 30 minutes before a mental or physical work
bout will increase focus and motivation. Some people, including me, will take
500mg of L-Tyrosine and 300mg of Alpha-GPC (which increases acetylcholine
and, thereby, focus) prior to a hard workout or focused cognitive work. But as
mentioned in #4, I don’t do this every day and sometimes, I use none. My
favorite preworkout or precognitive-work-bout supplement is 300mg Alpha-
GPC, 500mg Phenylethylamine and (sometimes) 500mg L-Tyrosine. (If I really
want to drop into focus and it’s early day, I chase it with espresso!) The
Huberman Lab Podcast is now partnered with Momentous because they have
superb quality and they ship internationally (as of now, they don’t sell
Phenylethylamine but hopefully will soon). Note: Don’t take these after 2-3 p.m.
if you intend to sleep that night. Also, if you have bipolar depression or any
other dopamine-sensitive condition, be very cautious with these dopamine-
enhancing compounds. Those with ADHD may need MD-prescribed Ritalin,
Adderall or other Rx drugs, but those without ADHD should avoid these Rx
drugs merely for “recreational” focus; they are powerful and can lead to
dependency.

By understanding and supporting your dopamine baseline and what spikes

dopamine, you can learn to regulate yours for persistent goal-directed motivation.
You don’t need to do all of the above; the list is meant to be a buffet of options. Apply
all or some, as needed.

Stay Connected
Stay in touch! New episodes of the Huberman Lab Podcast are out each Monday on
YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and all major podcast
platforms. Please subscribe to those channels and provide feedback and
suggestions. New, short, actionable clips from the Huberman Lab Podcast are
available on our YouTube Clips Channel. I post additional science and science-
based tools on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Thank you for your interest in science!

Best wishes,
Andrew

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