Mammalian Brain Chemistry explains everything
Loretta G. Breuning PhD Inner Mammal Institute

Your brain chemicals are inherited
from earlier animals

These chemicals are not meant
to just flow all the time They’re meant to promote survival

The mammal brain releases a
happy chemical when it sees a way to meet its needs dopamine endorphin oxytocin serotonin

It releases a stress chemical
when it sees a potential threat to its needs cortisol

A happy chemical tells a
mammal to go toward An unhappy chemical tells a mammal to avoid

The mammal brain is always
scanning its world, and responding with brain chemicals

We mammals survive because our
brain chemicals steer us toward rewards and away from harm

The brain structures that manage
these chemicals are the same in all mammals

Humans have a big stock
of extra neurons to feed this operating system with more information

When you know what turns
on our brain chemicals in animals, the world makes sense dopamine endorphin oxytocinserotonin

Dopamine is the great feeling
that a reward is at hand

Dopamine releases energy for the
chase

Dopamine droops once you get
the reward, until you set your sights on another reward

Loretta Graziano Breuning PhD, Inner
Mammal Institute Oxytocin is often called the “love chemical”

Loretta Graziano Breuning PhD, Inner
Mammal Institute Oxytocin is stimulated by touch, trust, birth, and sex

Oxytocin droops when you’re separated
from the herd This causes the feeling that your survival is threatened

Serotonin is the pleasure of
social dominance

Serotonin is not aggression but
a calm sense that “ I will get the banana ”

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

Endorphin masks pain so you
can do what it takes to survive

Endorphin is “endogenous morphine” it’s
meant for emergencies, not partying

Endorphin is triggered by vigorous
exertion

Natural selection built a brain
that motivates survival behaviors by rewarding them with a good feeling

How does a mammal know
which rewards to approach and which threats to avoid?

Our brain chemicals are controlled
by neural pathways built from life experience

Brain chemicals are like paving
on our neural pathways. This is why it’s easy to repeat behaviors that triggered happy chemicals before

and to avoid behaviors that
triggered pain before

The electricity in our brain
flows like water in a storm, finding the paths of least resistance

Electricity flows to your happy
chemicals when something resembles a past reward

Electricity flows to your cortisol
when something resembles past pain

Each mammal wires itself from
its unique life experience

Reptiles are hardwired with the
knowledge of their ancestors, but mammals add knowledge during an early period of dependency

A reptile leaves home as
soon as it’s born because it already knows it all

A mother reptile can make
hundreds of babies, and her genes will survive even though most of them die

A mama mammal can only
produce a few babies in her lifetime. Her genes will not survive unless she guards each one constantly.

Attachment
enables
mammals
to survive

Oxytocin circuits tell a mammal
who to trust and who not to trust

By puberty, attachment transfers from
mother to group, thanks to oxytocin circuits

The bigger a mammal’s brain,
the longer its childhood

Big brains actually make it
harder to survive because neurons use so much energy

It takes time to wire
neurons in ways that promotes survival

Mirror neurons also help a
young mammal learn from the experience of its elders

Each mammal meets its needs
with circuits built from individual experience and circuits inherited from its ancestors

The bigger a mammal’s brain,
the more it builds circuits from life experience

The smaller a mammal’s brain,
the more it relies on circuits established long ago

New pathways build more easily
in puberty. This supports transfer, which helps prevent inbreeding.

After puberty, myelin drops and
a mammal relies on the core neural network it has established

This network makes it easy
to seek the rewards we know

And avoid the harm that
we know

Humans have a very long
dependency which gives us time to build more circuits from experience instead of relying on pre-wired impulses

It’s not easy being mammal
!

Living with a group brings
competition

The mammal brain evolved to
weigh alternatives

It asserts when that’s safe
and it inhibits impulses when that’s the better survival strategy

It must compare itself to
others to do that

The impulse to compare is
more urgent than the impulse to eat or mate

Serotonin makes it feel good
when you compare favorably

The mammal brain constantly weighs
opportunities and threats

Most of the time, a
mammal sticks with the group despite the conflict

to enjoy protection from common
enemies

Oxytocin makes it
feel good

But the mammal brain is
very careful about who it trusts

Greener pastures feel good but
the increased predator threat feels bad

When a mammal goes for
it, dopamine makes it feel good

The mammal brain scans for
social rewards as well as material rewards

It scans for social threats
as well as material threats

Primates have enough neurons to
build individualized trust bonds

and update those circuits in
response to new rewards and threats

A social threat feels like
a survival threat to the mammal brain

Disappointment feels like a survival
threat to the mammal brain

But it finds another way
to stimulate dopamine, oxytocin and serotonin

Loretta Graziano Breuning PhD, Inner
Mammal Institute © 2015 It’s not easy being mammal !

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Dopamine Dopamine makes you jump
for joy when you reach a goal or get a toy. Innature,ithelpsfindfoodwhenyouneedit. “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.” Whenothersdoitforyou,yourdopaminewillshunit.

Endorphin Endorphin helps you mask
the pain Of injuries that you sustain. Yourancestorsescapedfrompredatorattack ‘Cause endorphinfelt goodwhiletheyranback. 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.

Oxytocin Oxytocin makes you trust
your mates. We love the bonds that it creates. Oxytocin flowswhenyoustickwiththeherd. “Not me!” youmaysay,“I’mnobovineorbird.” But without social bonds, your brain feels alarm. This protected our ancestors from all kinds of harm. Though theherdwillannoyyou,thepackhurt 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.

Serotonin swells your chest with
pride When you get respect and needn’t hide. Yourbrainfeelsgoodwhenyouboostyourselfhigher. But when others do this, it provokes your ire. “I don’t care about status. It’s other who do.” But youspurtserotoninwhenthelimelight’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