Let's get a lot of dopamine is the learning neurotransmitter, it is the positive reinforcement. Neurotransmitter it is the transmitter that says, this feels good. I want more. Now serotonin is the opposite. It's the neurotransmitter that says this feels good. I don't want or need anymore. Those are clearly two different things. And the problem is, if you don't know the difference, then you are basically subject to continuing to try to improve. Now, there's a third component to this pathway. That is absolutely essential and it's called cortisol. It's a cortisol is the stress hormone and what cortisol does, which is particularly important in the story is It works on this part of your brain right here. The part right behind your forehead part, right?
Above your eyes called the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex. Is the part of your brain that keeps you from doing stupid? Things called the Jiminy Cricket party a brain like for Pinocchio, bottom line, if you have a dysfunctional prefrontal cortex you can't see the future. You You only live for the moment. Prefrontal, cortical, dysfunction is what turns, a human into a lizard. Okay, doesn't matter. What happens in the future. I need my reward to now and so there's no ability to cognitively inhibit that feeling of reward and that van drives, the dopamine even faster and ultimately that's what needs to neuronal cell death. So it's the combination of dopamine and cortisol that leads to addiction, so reward is good reward. Plus stress is not and that's what we all are. Now, is chronically stressed and so, chronic stress makes you grant award because of this lizard brain. And so it sets you up for addiction. Now, on the other side on this, Serotonin side, chronic stress versus and cortisol has an effect as well. So serotonin does bind to its receptor to inhibit. The next neuron. The problem is that the serotonin receptor is down regulated by cortisol. So, Less serotonin fewer receptors. That's depression. So addiction and depression both occur. One due to dopamine, one due to lack of Serotonin, but in the presence of cortisol in the presence of chronic stress. So, chronic stress, is the what belies both of these two major afflictions of The Human Condition. There is one reward system one and now everyone system is pretty darn important if you don't receive reward. You don't get out of bed.
You actually lie in bed and died, is what happens? And that's been done in transgenic animals. They've basically knocked out the reward system. And those animals have no will to live. Do you need reward to be able to get up in the morning? Go to work, make a living, you know, bring home a paycheck. It food, Etc. So word is survival of the species and cannot Not do it without reward.
And contentment are not the same thing. Ward and pleasure are synonymous. Contentment and happiness are synonymous. So people in our society have confused and conflated these two concepts, pleasure and happiness. So I find that there are seven differences between the tube and people need to understand these differences. Isis in order to be able to make head or tail of number one, the world and number two, how they're being manipulated by the world in order to make them miserable. So those seven things, the seven differences, one pleasure. A short-term like a meal happiness is long-term like a lifetime to pleasure is visceral. You feel it in your body. Happiness is ethereal you. Feel it above. Of the three pleasure is taking like from a casino happiness is given but Habitat for Humanity before, pleasure is achieved alone like a chocolate chip. Happiness is achieved in social groups like a birthday party number five, pleasure is achievable with substances. Like for instance cocaine heroin happiness is not achievable with substance. Number 6, place the extremes of pleasure, whether it be substances or behaviors. So substances Like Cocaine, heroin nicotine, alcohol sugar or behaviors, so shopping, gambling, social media, internet gaming pornography, In the extreme are addictive. There's no holic after every one of those shopaholic, sexaholic alcoholic, alcoholic, Etc. But there's no such thing as being addicted to too much happiness. And number seven, and then perhaps the most important for this conversation pleasure is dopamine and happiness is serotonin. So two different neurotransmitters to different areas of the brain, to different regulatory, Pathways two different mechanisms of action, two different drivers. So you say like, so what why do we care?
Here's why we care dopamine. Is an excitatory neurotransmitter. Dopamine binds to its receptor. The next neuron gets excited. Okay, postsynaptic receptor activation now neurons like to be excited. It's like to be tickled. I don't like to be bludgeoned. Chronic overstimulation of any neuron in the body needs to neuronal cell death. And the reason is because neurons are so metabolically, active and neurotransmission is so metabolically taxing that, if you just keep it up and keep it up and keep it up. That neuron is basically going to exhaust and die. And so the postsynaptic neuron, that has the dopamine receptors on it. It has a Fail-Safe, it has a protective mechanism in order.
Order not to be overwhelmed what it does is it down regulates the dopamine receptor. So now that even though you have lots of ligands lots of dopamine molecules, you have fewer receptors which means there's less chance that any molecule will find the receptor. What that means in human terms is you need more and more to get less and less and that's the phenomenon we call Powers. So, dopamine and leads to tolerance, and then when those neurons actually do start to die, that's called addiction serotonin. This other neurotransmitter is not excited. Its inhibitory. Now, if you're inhibitory, and if you're hitting the next neuron, do you need to down regulate the receptor because you're not gonna put neuro something to die? Topping overexcited, it's being trendy thing. A inhibitor. So there's no such thing as overdosing on too much things. But there's one thing that down regulates serotonin dopamine. So the more pressure you seek the more unhappy you get and if you don't know the difference between reward and contentment. If you don't know the difference between pleasure and happiness and you are LED astray. Ray by say Coca-Cola open happiness or you know it's 5:00 somewhere or her, you know, any of these other you know, sort of memes and mantras that have entered our you know Collective lexicon about the fact that you want to quote get Happy by taking this substance you are sadly mistaken and you know, ultimately It will do a number on you and it's been doing a number on hundreds of millions of people in particular over the last 50 years, as a public relations.
