This podcast explores how dopamine and serotonin affect the ability to experience pleasure, indicating that different types of experiences that bring happiness are related to the same currency of dopamine.
The impact of sleep on addiction and relapse behaviors is closely linked to the function of the locus coeruleus and the production of norepinephrine. Sleep disturbances may be a predictor of hyperactive locus coeruleus and increased anxiety and depression in individuals with addiction.
This episode discusses the role of the locus coeruleus, a group of neurons in the back of our brain that is responsible for churning out epinephrine, and how it is involved in our perceptions of effort and movement forward.
The way we perceive food can impact how it tastes and how our body utilizes it. Our perception of food can also trigger neural signals in the brain to drive us to eat more or stop eating.
Learning how to engage the cholinergic system through the visual system can improve focus, cognitive skills, emotional regulation, and language learning. Practicing visual focus can lead to reflexive skills that are important in communities that require high-level visual focus.