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 serotonin endorphin oxytocin

 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
 Oxytocin
is often called
the “love chemical”

Loretta Graziano Breuning PhD, Inner Mammal Institute

Oxytocin is stimulated by
touch,

trust,
birth,

and

sex

Loretta Graziano Breuning PhD, Inner Mammal Institute

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
It’s not
easy
being
mammal !

Loretta Graziano Breuning PhD, Inner Mammal Institute © 2015

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Dopamine
Dopamine makes you jump for joy
when you reach a goal or get a toy.
In nature, it helps find food when you need it.
“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.”
When others do it for you, your dopamine will shun it.
Endorphin

Endorphin helps you mask the pain

Of injuries that you sustain.
Your ancestors escaped from predator attack
‘Cause endorphin felt good while they ran back.
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 flows when you stick with the herd.
“Not me!” you may say, “I’m no bovine or bird.”
But without social bonds, your brain feels alarm.
This protected our ancestors from all kinds of harm.
Though the herd will annoy you, the pack hurt 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

Serotonin swells your chest with pride

When you get respect and needn’t hide.
Your brain feels good when you boost yourself higher.
But when others do this, it provokes your ire.
“I don’t care about status. It’s other who do.”
But you spurt serotonin when the limelight’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.