By Mac E. Lancaster, BS, and Ran D. Anbar, MD.
Dopamine release activates the brain’s reward pathways, where feelings of pleasure derived from completing tasks play a significant role in motivation. Dopaminergic activities refer to actions or substances that increase activity in this system (Marques et al., 2021).
By learning about dopamine, its regulation, and its function, you can incorporate positive activities that help increase your overall dopamine levels and associated pleasure.
Dopamine played a major role in our evolution as a species (Previc, 1999). It is involved in seeking, evaluating, and learning based on rewarding stimuli (Bromberg-Martin et al., 2010). When we interact with a new or rewarding stimulus, dopamine is released, and subsequent feelings of euphoria increase our desire to engage in that stimulus again.
Humans have reportedly high levels of dopamine compared to other animals, strengthening our pattern-seeking behavior and responsiveness to reward (Barron et al., 2010).
Natural behaviors such as reproducing and eating, in particular sweet-tasting foods, are highly associated with dopamine release (Cannon & Palmiter, 2003). The human bias toward sweets is an evolutionary trait given that sweeter foods contain more calories, which was beneficial in the past. However, this bias is no longer helpful today when food is overabundant.
Humans grow tolerant to repeated dopaminergic activity and need more to keep up the previous enjoyment achieved. For example, enjoying your favorite treat every day would diminish the euphoria you normally feel when eating it more moderately (Volkow et al., 2011).
Supernormal stimuli include manufactured products meant to elicit a stronger response in reward pathways compared to naturally occurring stimuli, similar to drugs of abuse (Goodwin et al., 2015).
By hijacking the reward response originally intended for natural rewards, supernormal stimuli such as processed food, pornography, or social media interactions lead to excessive consumption and, in certain instances, addiction (Goodwin et al., 2015).
As supernormal stimuli become increasingly prevalent, it is important to redirect attention toward activities that can positively benefit you while simultaneously providing a healthy outlet for dopaminergic drive.
Exercise. This is one of the most universally applicable examples of a healthy and pro-dopaminergic action (Marques et al., 2021). One study found that exercise can increase dopamine release throughout the reward system, leading to enduring benefits such as improved mood and alleviation of symptoms in individuals with neuropsychiatric disorders including Parkinson’s Disease, anxiety, and depression (Bastioli et al., 2022).
In addition, it has been discovered that regular physical activity can heal and restructure the reward system in individuals who have suffered harm because of methamphetamine consumption (Robertson et al., 2016). This results in increased levels of dopamine in the bloodstream and a greater number of dopamine receptors (Robertson et al., 2016).
Aerobic exercise in particular, such as walking, cycling, or swimming, increases dopamine levels in parts of the brain associated with habit formation, memory, and mood (Heijnen et al., 2016).
The Department of Health and Human Services recommends a weekly minimum of 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of more intense activity (Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans). However, any exercise is beneficial. When starting a new form of physical activity, remember to be kind and congratulate yourself on your achievement.
When you reinforce good habits with self-congratulation or celebration, it becomes easier to continue this habit, subsequently increasing the dopamine released the next time you partake in it.
Novelty. One hack for your reward system is to experience something new. Novel experiences stimulate dopamine release in the memory center of our brain and contribute to vivid long-term memory formation (Duszkiewicz et al., 2019). The activities listed below are examples of novel experiences that would elicit a dopaminergic response.
Consider making a list of new ways you could make your days, weeks, and months more exciting. Even just a few new activities sprinkled in your schedule will build your anticipation, which is associated with sustained dopamine release (Goedhoop et al., 2023).
Music. While our understanding of music and its role in the reward system is still developing, research has found a link between music and dopaminergic activity in the brain (Ferreri et al., 2019).
Music-induced pleasure can cause physiological changes in reward pathways that are similar to survival-based rewards like food, water, and reproduction, as well as secondary rewards like money (Ferreri et al., 2019).
One study found that dopamine plays a causal role in music enjoyment and is linked to abstract cognitive processes such as listening to or making music (Ferreri et al. 2019).
Currently, one of the most compelling theories linking music to dopaminergic activation is the relationship between music and reward prediction error. Reward prediction error represents the difference between expected and actual rewards (Gold et al., 2019). This concept is dependent on whether the reward value exceeds the predicted value.
The majority of dopamine neurons in the brain activate when the reward exceeds expectations (positive prediction error) and become less active when the reward is lower (Gold et al., 2019).
For example, when you're listening to a new piece of music, your mind is constantly anticipating how the next section will sound. When your mind predicts that the sonic pattern will move in a certain direction and it does, or when the sound exceeds your expectations, you get a dopamine rush.
Conversely, if you expect a new song from your favorite artist to sound a certain way and it falls short, dopamine levels drop, leading to disappointment.
The most appealing music combines predictable and unpredictable sounds (Zatorre, 2023). Repeated exposure to music improves understanding of musical structures and allows for more accurate predictions, resulting in a more enjoyable listening experience over time (Zatorre, 2023).
Understanding the mechanisms of dopamine release and regulation can help improve your well-being. Exercise, novelty-seeking, and listening to music can all help stimulate dopamine release, resulting in improved mood, motivation, and overall mental health.
Individuals can cultivate long-term happiness and fulfillment by doing these healthy dopaminergic activities instead of falling for the allure of supernormal stimuli.
References
Barron, A. B., Søvik, E., & Cornish, J. L. (2010). The roles of dopamine and related compounds in reward-seeking behavior across animal phyla. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 4, 163. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2010.00163
Bastioli, G., Arnold, J. C., Mancini, M., Mar, A. C., Gamallo-Lana, B., Saadipour, K., Chao, M. V., & Rice, M. E. (2022). Voluntary exercise boosts striatal dopamine release: Evidence for the necessary and sufficient role of BDNF. Journal of Neuroscience, 42(23) 4725-4736, https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2273-21.2022
Bromberg-Martin, E. S., Matsumoto, M., & Hikosaka, O. (2010). Dopamine in motivational control: rewarding, aversive, and alerting. Neuron, 68(5), 815–834. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2010.11.022
Cannon, C. M., & Palmiter, R. D. (2003). Reward without dopamine. The Journal of Neuroscience: The Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 23(34), 10827–10831. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.23-34-10827.2003
Duszkiewicz, A. J., McNamara, C. G., Takeuchi, T., & Genzel, L. (2019). Novelty and dopaminergic modulation of memory persistence: A tale of two systems. Trends in Neurosciences, 42(2), 102–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2018.10.002
Goedhoop, J. Arbab, T., & Willuhn, I. (2023). Anticipation of appetitive operant action induces sustained dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens. Journal of Neuroscience, 43(21) 3922-3932; https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1527-22.2023
Gold, B. P., Mas-Herrero, E., Zeighami, Y., Benovoy, M., Dagher, A., & Zatorre, R. J. (2019). Musical reward prediction errors engage the nucleus accumbens and motivate learning. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116(8), 3310–3315. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1809855116
Goodwin, B. C., Browne, M., & Rockloff, M. (2015). Measuring preference for supernormal over natural rewards: A two-dimensional anticipatory pleasure scale. Evolutionary psychology: an international journal of evolutionary approaches to psychology and behavior, 13(4), 1474704915613914. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474704915613914
Heijnen, S., Hommel, B., Kibele, A., & Colzato, L. S. (2016). Neuromodulation of Aerobic Exercise-A Review. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1890. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01890
Marques, A., Marconcin, P., Werneck, A. O., Ferrari, G., Gouveia, É. R., Kliegel, M., Peralta, M., & Ihle, A. (2021). Bidirectional Association between Physical Activity and Dopamine Across Adulthood-A Systematic Review. Brain Sciences, 11(7), 829. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11070829
Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd Edition, health.gov/sites/default/files/2019-09/Physical_Activity_Guidelines_2nd_edition.pdf. Accessed 5 Feb. 2024.
Previc F. H. (1999). Dopamine and the origins of human intelligence. Brain and Cognition, 41(3), 299–350. https://doi.org/10.1006/brcg.1999.
Robertson, C. L., Ishibashi, K., Chudzynski, J., Mooney, L. J., Rawson, R. A., Dolezal, B. A., Cooper, C. B., Brown, A. K., Mandelkern, M. A., & London, E. D. (2016). Effect of exercise training on striatal dopamine D2/D3 receptors in methamphetamine users during behavioral treatment. Neuropsychopharmacology: Official Publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 41(6), 1629–1636. https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2015.331
Volkow, N. D., Wang, G. J., & Baler, R. D. (2011). Reward, dopamine and the control of food intake: implications for obesity. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15(1), 37–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2010.11.001
Zatorre, R. (2023). Why Does Music Engage the Reward System?, From Perception to Pleasure: The Neuroscience of Music and Why We Love It (pp. 230-259). Oxford University Press.
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