A Neuroscientist's Simple Recommendation For A More Enjoyable Life
There’s a chemical which improves satisfaction, and it doesn’t come from the pharmacy
Science has created an odd world for us presently.
It’s constantly finding hacks and promising us a better life through a pill or device. Simultaneously, we’re also technological voyeurs, watching the lives of others played out on streaming services like Netflix, Peacock, and Amazon Prime.
However, both methods leave much to be desired for fulfillment.
Although neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman has a simpler answer, which he reveals in a recent podcast appearance. Moreover, it’s backed by clinical psychology, and philosophy.
Huberman finds it in what he calls “the true currency of the world.”
It’s not money as you know it. The paper notes in your pocket or cryptocurrency aren’t what he’s talking about. It’s a neurotransmitter molecule. Furthermore, you don’t have to go to a pharmacy to get it; your body produces it naturally in most instances.
It’s dopamine, and in many ways it’s our prime motivator.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, this molecule affects much of our daily life. For instance, it takes part in:
Memory, movement, mood, reward and motivation, attention, sleep, arousal, plus cognition
relaxes blood vessels, reduces insulin, changes gastrointestinal content movement, and affects your immune system
Most of us know it as a “feel-good” hormone which rewards us for doing things necessary for survival. But a lack of it also causes problems. These can be anything from low energy, lack of motivation, sleep issues, unhappiness, and mood swings.
Huberman believes it’s of critical importance for a more satisfied life, plus increasing dopamine levels is something you can do on your own without earth-shattering effort. In fact, it’s relatively easy.
But we need a brief tour of the brain first before we can make sense of it all.
Energy, Future Selves, And Anticipation
In his podcast interview with Jordan Peterson, Huberman explains a study in the Journal Science sixty years ago was one of the first indicators of the power of dopamine. In it, people were able to stimulate various sections of their brain.
But instead of pleasure, intoxication, or happiness, they tended to repeatedly stimulate an area of the Midline Thalamus. It causes mild frustration and anticipation. Huberman calls it the hope center of the brain.
It turns out that’s when the dopamine kick is strongest; not when you get what you want, but right before you get It. Levels drop afterwards. So, anticipation of a reward beats the reward itself.
It’s also tied into our prefrontal cortex. Peterson says this area of the brain “enables us to envision different versions of our future selves.” It works in tandem with dopamine. Anticipation motivates us to think beyond today, and the molecule helps power this.
Talking about power, Huberman calls dopamine “the true currency of the world,” because it’s neural energy. It creates adrenalin. In many ways, the molecule gives us the energy to get up and go, increases our confidence, and helps us improve our future selves.
Although our pursuits may vary between people and cultures, dopamine is what we all chase in some form or another. We also crash when it alludes us.
But according to Huberman, since we understand the system, there’s a simple method to create the dopamine we hunger for. It involves using that future anticipation.
The Pleasure Of Accomplishing…Anything
In Huberman’s studies, he’s found one of the easiest ways to get a release of dopamine is to accomplish a task to its end. Obvious, right? A major win is bound to improve your mood.
But here’s the surprise: you don’t have to do something magnificent like write a book, win a medal, or change the world. Finishing anything releases dopamine. Now, the release is proportional to the achievement in your mind.
But dopamine by nature is an energy boost, so small wins can set off a self-propelled improvement machine within you. Peterson agrees. He has lots of experience in this area.
Whatever you think of him now, before his fame he was a clinical psychologist. His patients were often those with little to no social skills. In the podcast he talks about a thirty-year-old client who accomplished nothing in his life.
Peterson had to motivate him out of his stagnation.
He did it with little wins. Peterson started the patient organizing his sock drawer, then cleaning his room, and gradually trying bigger things. Each small win empowered him and pushed him onwards.
Oddly, a philosopher two-thousand years ago said something similar.
In Anthony Long’s translation of the Enchiridion, the Stoic philosopher Epictetus warned his students not to worry about failing to achieve great things. It was foolish to believe you’re a nobody. He states:
“How will you be a nobody everywhere since you need to be a somebody in only the things that are up to you, and in them you can be a top person.”
In other words, you can achieve greatness in even small things — an accomplishment is an accomplishment. Epictetus had no knowledge of dopamine. However, he understood the benefit and power of any achievement.
This brings us back to our original starting point.
The Currency Of Fulfillment
While science tries to cure everything with a pill and technology feeds us a digital world comprised of screens, neither can satisfy us. There’s another currency we seek.
Oddly enough, it lies inside of us, within a natural molecule we produce ourselves.
Furthermore, it requires more than watching screens. To attain it, we must get up and finish something to closure, although it doesn’t have to be anything incredible.
As Epictetus noted, in things up to us, we can be a top person. They also generate dopamine. For some, this includes something as simple as organizing a sock drawer.
Moreover, the fields of psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy all speak to the benefits of dopamine. Although, they may not specifically name it.
I felt it myself this weekend, as I gathered material to complete a few tasks I’d been putting off. There was a boost. My mood, energy, and happiness improved, even just setting things in motion to finish my errand.
It might even be the same boost that pushes me to finish and publish articles every week.
So, there is a chemical which can improve your satisfaction with life, and you don’t need to go to a pharmacy to get it.
Just turn off the screens and finish a task. Your brain will reward your future self and give you the energy you need to do it again.
-Originally posted on Medium 10/25/22