Posted by BBob on June 10, 2000, at 11:50:46
In reply to question about dopamine, posted by CarolAnn on June 10, 2000, at 10:08:27
Anything fun.
Anything fun, or rewarding tends to promote the release of dopamine. Chemically, coffee, chocolate, and nicotine have all been connected with dopaminergic activity. Socially, things like sex, sports and power-brokerage are sometimes associated with dopamine.
Evolutionary biological-psychology suggets that dopaine evolved to help the simplest creatures learn what is benificial for their survival. Bees purportedly use dopaminergic networks to help them recall the location of choice nectar-bearing flowers.
When we discuss reinforcing properties of commonly abused drugs, we are talking about upregulation of dopaminergic synapses frontal-limbic networks associated with commonly abused drugs. When we talked about whether the President of the United States suffered from a sexual addiction, the presumption was that he had by practice upregulated dopamenergic receptor sites along the synapses of cognitive networks built around sexual habits.
In drug-abuse counseling, clinicians urge clients to orient their "pleasure centers" around socially constructive activities.
Of course all of these answers fail to address the psycho-pharmaceutical question. Some diseases are associated with dopamine difficencies. Some activists say wider access to now-outlawed medications, such as cannibas or coca, would provide reliable, affordable treatments for diseases related to dopa deficits. But dopa-mobilizing substances, such as cannibas or coca, are outlawed for that very reason, and that is why we are unlikely to find substances that are very specific or efficacious for increasing dopamine among the legal pharmacopia - they tend to cause euphoria, and people tend to accept that chemically induces euphoria as an alternative to the pleasure that would otherwise be found in social activities.
> I just suddenly wondered if anyone had heard of any natural ways to supplement dopamine? I mean, we have 5htp and St. John's Wort for Serotonin, and I'm not sure about where Sam-e's effectiveness is. But, I don't think I've ever heard of any dopamine effectors that didn't need prescriptions. Any ideas? Or has this been covered and I missed it? Just curious, CarolAnn
poster:BBob
thread:36828
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000610/msgs/36839.html