What is dopamine?
A chemical messenger in your brain. It helps you move and spot what’s worth chasing. But it isn’t the pleasure chemical. Most dopamine cells react to better-than-expected rewards, not ones you saw coming.
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What does dopamine do?
Dopamine carries messages between nerve cells. The NHS says it helps the parts of the brain that control and co-ordinate body movements.
It also helps you learn which rewards to go after. Nerve cells that make and use dopamine are called dopaminergic.
| Job | What dopamine does | When it goes wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Movement | Carries messages for the parts of the brain that control movement. | Parkinson’s: dopamine falls, so movement gets slow and stiff. |
| Learning what to chase | Signals when a reward is better or worse than expected. | Drugs of addiction hijack and amplify this signal. |
| Wanting | In rats, more dopamine raised wanting for sugar, not liking it. | In some people, some Parkinson’s medicines are linked to compulsive gambling, shopping or a big rise in interest in sex, especially at high doses. |
| Thoughts and perception | May play a part in schizophrenia. | Medicines that lower dopamine can help symptoms in some people. |
Sources: NHS; NHS; NHS; Schultz 2016; Wyvell and Berridge 2000
Parkinson’s shows what happens when dopamine runs low. Symptoms usually only start once around 50% of the activity in the nerve cells that make it has been lost.
New shaking at rest, slow movement or stiff muscles? These are the main signs of Parkinson’s, so see a GP.
Is dopamine the pleasure chemical?
No. Most dopamine cells track the gap between the reward you get and the one you expected. Researchers call it a reward prediction error.
Dopamine reacts to the surprise, not the reward
- 1
Better than expected
Dopamine cells fire more. You learn to do it again.
- 2
Just as expected
Dopamine cells stay at their usual level. Nothing new to learn.
- 3
Worse than expected
Dopamine cells go quieter. You learn to avoid it.
Source: Schultz 2016
That’s the surprise signal. Think of your pay.
A surprise bonus grabs your attention. The same pay every month doesn’t. A smaller pay packet than usual grabs it too.
So a reward you fully expect gives no dopamine spike. It still arrives. It just teaches you nothing new, so you keep doing what you were doing.
Wanting and liking can split, too. In rats, raising dopamine made a sugar cue more tempting without making the sugar more liked.
Keep going back to an app you don’t enjoy? Read what a dopamine detox can and can’t do.
Dopamine and serotonin: what’s the difference?
Both carry messages between brain cells. The NHS links them to different jobs and treats them with different medicines.
| Chemical | What the NHS links it to | Medicines that act on it |
|---|---|---|
| Dopamine | Movement. It may also play a part in schizophrenia. | Levodopa and dopamine agonists (medicines that copy dopamine) for Parkinson’s. Medicines that lower it for schizophrenia. |
| Serotonin | Mood and emotion, along with noradrenaline (another brain chemical). | SSRIs, the most widely used antidepressants. |
The NHS says it’s thought antidepressants work by changing how brain chemicals like serotonin and noradrenaline act.
Low for weeks? Read about blood tests for low mood and talk to your GP. Never stop or change a prescribed medicine without your prescriber.
Alcohol, sex and a dopamine high
In a rat study, alcohol, nicotine, opiates, amphetamine and cocaine all raised dopamine, most of all in a reward area of the brain. Drugs people don’t misuse, like an antihistamine, didn’t.
Drugs of addiction hijack and amplify the surprise signal. So the brain may keep learning that the drug is worth chasing.
Medicines that copy dopamine show the link with sex and spending. Dopamine agonists are used for Parkinson’s. The NHS says they’re linked to addictive gambling, compulsive shopping and a big rise in interest in sex, especially at high doses.
If a habit or urge feels out of control
- See your GP for advice, or contact an organisation that helps people with addictions.
- On a dopamine agonist with new urges to gamble, shop or have sex? Talk to your specialist.
- Caring for someone on a dopamine agonist? Note any unusual behaviour and raise it, as they may not notice.
- Never stop or change a prescribed medicine without your prescriber.
Sources: NHS: addiction; NHS: Parkinson’s treatment
The NHS calls it addiction when you lose control over doing or using something to the point it could harm you. Check your drinking against the weekly alcohol units guide.
Where does dopamine come from?
Your nerve cells make it from tyrosine, an amino acid (one of the building blocks of protein), in two steps.
How your body makes dopamine
- 1
Tyrosine
An amino acid. Your body can also make it from phenylalanine.
- 2
DOPA
Tyrosine becomes DOPA. As a medicine, it’s called levodopa.
- 3
Dopamine
DOPA becomes dopamine inside the nerve cell.
- 4
Noradrenaline and adrenaline
Some dopamine is turned into these.
Sources: Meiser 2013; NHS
That’s why levodopa helps Parkinson’s. Nerve cells turn it into dopamine, which usually improves movement problems.
None of the sources we checked show a food, supplement or cold shower lifts brain dopamine. Struggling with low drive? See no motivation.
Restless legs at night? The NHS says it’s thought to be linked to iron and dopamine. See blood tests for restless legs.
When to speak to a GP
Book an appointment if:
- You have shaking at rest, slow movement or stiff muscles. These can be symptoms of Parkinson’s.
- You take a dopamine agonist and have new urges to gamble, shop or have sex. Talk to your specialist.
- A habit is out of control and could harm you. Your GP can advise you.
- You have restless legs and they stop you sleeping, affect your mental health, or things you’ve tried yourself haven’t helped.
Need urgent help for your mental health? Call 111 and choose the mental health option, or ask for an urgent GP appointment.
Call 999 or go to A&E if someone’s life is at risk, or you can’t keep yourself or someone else safe.