rewire your natural happy brain chemicals: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, endoprhin

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Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals Loretta Breuning, PhD Inner Mammal Institute dopamine endorphin oxytocin serotonin

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Page 1: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals

Loretta Breuning, PhD Inner Mammal Institute

dopamine endorphin oxytocin serotonin

Page 2: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

When you see somethinggood for you, your brain releases

chemicals that feel good.dopamine endorphin oxytocin serotonin

Page 3: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

These chemicals are inheritedfrom earlier animals

Page 4: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Happy chemicals motivate a mammal to go toward things that meet your survival needs

Page 5: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Unhappy chemicals alert a mammalto avoid obstacles

to your survival needs

Page 6: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

But the mammal brain defines survival in a quirky way

Page 7: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

It cares about the

survival of your genes

(even risking the survival of its bodyto promote the survival of its genes)

Page 8: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

And it relies on neural pathways

built in youth

(even though our early experienceis not necessarily a good survival guide)

Page 9: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

We are designed to survive by constantly seeking waysto stimulate happy chemicals and avoid cortisol

Page 10: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Our happy chemicals are not meantto flow all the time.

They’re meant to promote survival.

Page 11: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

dopamine endorphin oxytocinserotonin

Let’s look closely atthe good feeling of

each happy chemical

Page 12: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

And the reasons they dip after they spurt

Page 13: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Dopamineis the great feeling

that a reward is at hand

Page 14: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Dopaminereleases energy for the chase

Page 15: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Dopaminedroops

once you get the

reward, until

you set your sights on another

reward

Page 16: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Oxytocinis often called

the “love chemical”

Page 17: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Oxytocin is stimulated bytouch,trust,birth,and sex

Page 18: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Oxytocin droops when you’reseparated from the herd

This causes the feeling that your survival is threatened

Page 19: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Serotoninis the pleasure of social dominance

Page 20: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Serotoninis not

aggression but a calm sense that

“ I will get the

banana ”

Page 21: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Serotoninis soon reabsorbed, so we are always looking for ways to stimulate more

Page 22: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Endorphin masks pain so you can do whatit takes to survive

Page 23: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Endorphin is “endogenous morphine”

it’s meant for emergencies,not partying

Page 24: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Endorphin is triggered by vigorous exertion

Page 25: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Dopamine rewards you for the effort of steps toward your needs.

Serotonin rewards you for getting respect from others.

Oxytocin rewards you for getting the safety of social support.

Endorphin rewards you for action that protects injuries.

Page 26: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Our brain chemicals are controlled by neural pathways

built from life experience

Page 27: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

They’re managedby brainstructures that all mammals have in common

Page 28: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Humanshave a bigstock of extra neurons to feedthis operating system with more information

Page 29: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

The electricity in your brainflows like water in a storm,

finding the paths of least resistance

Page 30: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Electricity flows to your happy chemicals when something

resembles a past reward

Page 31: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Electricity flows to your cortisol when something

resembles past pain

Page 32: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Each mammal wires itself from its unique life experience

Page 33: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Mirror neurons help a young mammal wire in

the experience of its elders

Page 34: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Some neural pathways getmyelinated, and become

the superhighways of your brain.

Page 35: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Myelination peaks before age 8, and again in puberty

Page 36: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

We all end up with some pathways we’d rather do without

Page 37: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

New pathways are hard to build after your myelin years

Page 38: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

It takes lots of repetition

Page 39: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

If you repeat a new thought or behavior for 45 days,

you can build a new pathway

Page 40: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Like carving a new trail through the jungle

Page 41: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

The trail disappears unless you slash it over and over untilit gets established

Page 42: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

It’s not easy

Page 43: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

1. The old path = survival, from your inner mammal’s perspective2. The new path doesn’t feel good at first, and requires a huge investment of energy3. The old highway is still there

Page 44: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

But you will build a new circuit if you repeat a new behavior for 45 days without fail.

Page 45: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

You’ll be glad you

did

Page 46: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

We all face the world with quirky pathways

Page 47: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

We struggle to know what is good for us, usingthe pathways we’ve got

Page 48: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

We all have the powerto wire ourselves for new choices

Page 49: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

One step at a time

Page 50: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Habits of aHappy BrainRetrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, and Endorphin

December 2015 pre-order

$11.83

Page 51: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

free resources forrewiring your inner mammal 5-day Happy Chemical Jumpstart - opt in at InnerMammalInstitute.org

infographics: You Have Power Over Your Brain

Youtube video: Your Ups and Downs Are Natural …and also learned join Inner Mammal Institute’s Facebook discussion group

Twitter

my blogs, Your Neurochemical Self thePositivePsychologyPeople;

book excerpts at InnerMammalInstitute.org

InnerMammalInstitute.org © 2015

Page 52: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Habits of a Happy Brainforthcoming December 2015

Meet Your Happy ChemicalsDopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endorphin

I, MammalWhy Your Brain Links Status and Happiness

Beyond CynicalTranscend Your Mammalian Negativity

my books

Page 53: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Dopamine

Dopamine makes you jump for joy when you reach a goal or get a toy. In nature, it helps find food when you need it. “Eureka, I got it!” A memory gets created. Dopamine causes expectations. Correct predictions bring good sensations. Dopamine feels great so you try to get more. It rewarded our ancestors trudging through gore. Cocaine triggers dopamine. Caution to all: Joy without goal-seeking leads to a fall. Dopamine flows when you feel like “I’ve done it.” When others do it for you, your dopamine will shun it.

Page 54: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Endorphin

Endorphin helps you mask the pain Of injuries that you sustain. Your ancestors escaped from predator attack ‘Cause endorphin felt good while they ran back. Endorphin feels great when it eases your pains. But only real pain makes it flow in your veins. Exercise triggers it, experts alert you. But first you must do it ‘til body parts hurt you. Endorphin receptors let opium in. So you feel like you’re safe without lifting a shin. Laughing and crying can trigger it too. But just for a moment– then the job’s through.

Page 55: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Oxytocin

Oxytocin makes you trust your mates. We love the bonds that it creates. Oxytocin flows when you stick with the herd. “Not me!” you may say, “I’m no bovine or bird.” But without social bonds, your brain feels alarm. This protected our ancestors from all kinds of harm. Though the herd will annoy you, the pack hurt you so. When you run with a pack, oxytocin will flow. “My pack is great and the other is nuts.” This thinking prevailed since the first mammal struts. You’re above all this foolishness, obviously. But it feels good when I trust you and you trust me.

Page 56: Rewire Your Natural Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endoprhin

Serotonin swells your chest with pride When you get respect and needn’t hide. Your brain feels good when you boost yourself higher. But when others do this, it provokes your ire. “I don’t care about status. It’s other who do.” But you spurt serotonin when the limelight’s on you. You are quite modest and don’t like to boast. But no serotonin flows when you coast. Status doesn’t depend on money. You can be clever or helpful or funny. But when others one-up you, your mind agitates. ‘Cause serotonin droops ‘til you lift your own weights.

Serotonin