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Neurotransmitter Notes: Dopamine

March 5, 2022

“I’m just a chemical in your head

I’m just that Dopamine

So come on line me up

Come on line me up”

– “Dopamine”, Third Eye Blind

As a neuroscience major, it makes me extremely happy when words about the brain and nervous system enter the popular vocabulary. And recently, I’ve noticed people have been using neurotransmitters to talk about their feelings. If someone wants to say something brings them joy, they’ll say, “That’s my dopamine!”. Or, if someone feels unhappy, they might share a meme about how they want more serotonin (like the meme below!)

There is a picture of a man sitting alone in a lecture hall holding a bunch of balloons. The caption reads the last molecule of serotonin in my brain doing its best to make sure I have a good day.

But to me, the biggest indicator of whether something has entered the popular consciousness is if there’s music about it. So, through the article series “Neurotransmitter Notes”, I want to chat about songs that talk about the 8 major neurotransmitters: epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin, GABA, acetylcholine, glutamate, and endorphins. Today, we’ll tackle the most famous neurotransmitter of them all: dopamine.

Neurotransmitters

Hold on, what’s a neurotransmitter? The Encyclopedia Brittanica defines a neurotransmitter as “any of a group of chemical agents released by neurons (nerve cells) to stimulate neighbouring neurons or muscle or gland cells, thus allowing impulses to be passed from one cell to the next throughout the nervous system” (Neurotransmitter | Definition, Signaling, & Types | Britannica, n.d.). So, neurotransmitters (NTs) are chemical messengers that neurons use to pass signals onto one another. What differentiates NTs from one another are that NTs will only be sent and received by the neurons that have the protein receptors that fit with it. Neurons are classified by the type of neurotransmitter it can “understand”: so, you’ll have dopaminergic neurons (which send and receive signals about dopamine). Those dopaminergic neurons, when binding to dopamine, will cause the effects that are associated with dopamine.

Dopamine’s Effects

Like I mentioned earlier, dopamine is known as the “happy” chemical. But it’s not just released when you feel good: it plays many, many other roles. One role is controlling decision making. For instance, higher levels of it are related to whether someone chooses to do a more difficult, rewarding task over a simpler, less rewarding one (Dopamine Affects How Brain Decides Whether a Goal Is Worth the Effort, 2020). These facts, I’m sure, were handy when writing the lyrics to this dance jam:

 

“You make all the dopa-dopamine in my bloodstream

The way you touch me, I’m loving the feeling

Of dopa-dopamine in my bloodstream

Let it control me, I’m loving the feeling”

– “Dopamine”, Purple Disco Machine ft. Eyelar

 

The songwriters have demonstrated here the happy feeling associated with dopamine, as well as its importance in controlling behavior. However, there’s also an error: neurotransmitters don’t travel in the bloodstream. Dopamine happens to be unique because it has an alternate form that does travel in the bloodstream, but that form doesn’t have the same effects as what the song’s describing. It’s likely that they mixed up neurotransmitters with hormones, which do travel in the bloodstream.

Dopamine Doesn’t Just Move You, It Motivates You

Not only can dopamine make you feel good and affect your decision making, it can impact your motivation. This motivation can be in the form of how well you can focus and retain information for a task (executive function). Executive dysfunction occurs in people with ADHD, who also often have lower levels of dopamine in their brain (Logue & Gould, 2014). 

Motivation also plays a role in addiction. The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is a section of neurons in the brain that play a major role in people with addictions, and these neurons are dopaminergic. In the song “Dopamine” by Bliss n Eso, the singer talks about his reliance on alcohol to help him through times of stress. This chorus describes how it felt for him to use it:

 

“When there’s no way out

When I don’t believe

When I’m coming down

You’re my dopamine”

– “Dopamine”, Bliss n Eso

 

However, over the course of the song, he cites his connections to his wife and child as motivation to become a better person. And by the end, this same chorus has taken on a new meaning. By the way, long-term intense romantic love still makes your VTA light up with dopamine, years after the honeymoon period has ended (Acevedo et al., 2012).

Dope-amine or Nope-amine?

I suppose we can take from this a lesson: dopamine is not just a feel-good chemical– it’s crucial for the proper functioning of your brain. Don’t try to chase that short-term high: if you take care of yourself and make meaningful connections to other people, dopamine (and life satisfaction) will come to you.

Check out this playlist with the tunes mentioned in this article, as well as some other neuroscience related songs! (Note: please be aware that some songs in this playlist may have explicit lyrics.) I’ll be back soon with some more Neurotransmitter Notes!

 

References

Acevedo, B. P., Aron, A., Fisher, H. E., & Brown, L. L. (2012). Neural correlates of long-term intense romantic love. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 7(2), 145–159. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsq092

Dopamine affects how brain decides whether a goal is worth the effort. (2020, March 30). National Institutes of Health (NIH). https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/dopamine-affects-how-brain-decides-whether-goal-worth-effort

Logue, S. F., & Gould, T. J. (2014). The neural and genetic basis of executive function: Attention, cognitive flexibility, and response inhibition. Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior, 0, 45–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbb.2013.08.007

Neurotransmitter | definition, signaling, & types | britannica. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/science/neurotransmitter

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I'm a 3rd year neuroscience major interested in the intersection of science and art! I also like to share my experiences as someone studying an uncommon major.

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  Timothy Durham was convicted of rape when a test showed his DNA genotype matched the DNA recovered from the crime scene. Eye witnesses testified that Durham was in a different state at the time of the incident, but he wasn’t exonerated from his 3000 year sentence until follow up DNA analysis showed that the preliminary forensic analysis used in the trial was misinterpreted (Thomas et al.). DNA testing serves an invaluable part in our criminal justice system, but it comes with complications and bias that can lead to wrongful convictions and misinformed juries.  

Background:

Forensic genetics aims to identify the origin of a biological sample. It can be traced back to Karl Landsteiner who discovered human ABO blood groups. With blood groups, suspects could be eliminated based on their blood type. For example, if a suspect had type A blood and there was type B blood left at the scene by the perpetrator, the investigators could rule out the suspect. Unfortunately, the reverse didn’t work. If the suspect and perpetrator both had the same blood type, it can’t be concluded that the suspect was guilty. Blood identifiers evolved into 8 distinct categories which improved the ability to eliminate suspects, but could only conclude that (if the system matched) it might be the perpetrator or this person might be related to the perpetrator (Jobling and Gill). The field evolved in the 1980s with the discovery of Minisatellites, lines of repetitive DNA that don’t encode proteins. Minisatellite patterns in DNA create what we know today as the DNA fingerprint, and it has a much higher accuracy rate than previous methods (Augustyn et al.). Around the same time, a breakthrough for victims of sexual assault was discovered. In the case of assault, bodily fluids of both the victim and the assaulter can get mixed. A process called differential lysis was created which could selectively increase the concentration of sperm in a fluid sample thereby allowing for accurate DNA testing (Jobling and Gill). Forensics evolved to use single-locus probe testing after several years because of its ease of interpretation. It looked at specific minisatellites that had high variability between subjects. This was the first DNA-based method to be used in a criminal investigation. Two murder homicides from several years apart were connected using DNA evidence. The evidence was then used to exonerate an innocent man, and the guilty party was found when he tried to evade mandatory DNA testing for all men in the small town. His guilt was then reinforced when the DNA profiles matched, and he gave a confession (Jobling and Gill). Finding DNA at a crime scene doesn’t guarantee that you’ll find a murderer. There are issues with non-pure samples and limited samples that make DNA work difficult, and accreditation of facilities and new techniques and take time (Jobling and Gill).  

Subjectivity of DNA Interpretation:

In a 2009 publication, the National Academy of Science discusses the possibility for subjective influence in lab based forensics. The interpretation bias happens in complex cases where, for example, there could be a mixture of DNA. A study published in 2011 looked specifically at this issue. A gang rape happened in Georgia, and the mixture in DNA from the case was used to prosecute one suspect after another suspect took a plea bargain to testify against him. With DNA mixtures, there are three possible conclusions: suspect excluded, suspect cannot be excluded, and inconclusive. If the suspect is excluded, it means that there’s little to no possibility that his DNA is part of the sample. If the suspect cannot be excluded, it means that there’s a possibility that his DNA is part of the sample. In the trial, the DNA examiners who knew the context of the case concluded that the suspect being prosecuted could not be excluded. The 2011 study gave the DNA evidence from this case and the DNA profiles of the suspects to 17 forensic examiners. These examiners had no context of the case, and they all worked independently. Of the 17, only 1 came to the same conclusion (suspect cannot be excluded) as the examiners who knew the context of the case. Twelve of the 17 concluded that the suspect who was prosecuted and convicted had no relation to the DNA found in the sample. Not only does this show that subjectivity occurs due to the context of the case, but the 17 examiners came up with different findings based on their past experiences meaning that not all DNA analysis is objective. Some organizations like the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods say that quantitative statistical evidence should be presented with every categorical conclusion, but the US doesn’t require this (Dror and Hampikian).

False Positives:

There are two categories that cause wrongful identification in a DNA report: coincidental matches and false positives. Coincidental matches are DNA matches between two unrelated people. The probability of these matches is about 1 to 500,000 for white individuals and about 1 to 350,000 for black individuals. This small probability of coincidental matches makes people feel confident in DNA evidence. False positives, on the other hand, are matches between DNA and test DNA that result from issues in the forensics lab. There have been multiple cases of forensics labs accidentally switching victim and suspected rapist DNA which lead to convictions that were later overturned when the lab realized the error. There are also cases of misreading or misunderstanding a sample. In a case from 1993, a man was convicted of rape because someone interpreted a mixed sample of victim and perpetrator DNA as an individual sample. The conviction was again overturned. To prevent false convictions, retesting DNA is allowed, but it’s not an efficient solution. Many people are pushing for statistical information on the probability of false positives, so that the jurors can make accurate judgements based on DNA evidence (Thomas et al.).  

Conclusion:

DNA analysis is a useful tool for the criminal justice system, but subjectivity can be an issue in forensic testing. To combat wrongful convictions, there are organizations like The Innocence Project who use DNA testing to free the innocent, but reformed forensic testing standards should be put in place to prevent subjectivity and to ensure juries are correctly informed during trials. https://www.innocenceproject.org/    

Citation:

Augustyn , Adam, et al. “DNA Finerprinting.” Encyclopedia Britannica , 26 Apr. 2018, www.britannica.com/science/DNA-fingerprinting#ref153186. Dror, Itiel E., and Greg Hampikian. “Subjectivity and Bias in Forensic DNA Mixture Interpretation.” Science & Justice, vol. 51, no. 4, 2011, pp. 204–208., doi:10.1016/j.scijus.2011.08.004. Jobling, Mark A., and Peter Gill. “Encoded Evidence: DNA in Forensic Analysis.” Nature Reviews: Genetics, vol. 5, no. 10, Oct. 2004, pp. 739–751., doi:10.1038/nrg1455. Thompson, William C, et al. “How the Probability of a False Positive Affects the Value of DNA Evidence.” Journal of Forensic Sciences, vol. 48, no. 1, Jan. 2003, pp. 1–8., doi:10.1520/jfs2001171.