Dopamine and Parkinson's Disease

Introduction

This material was initially included as part of my article

PODCAST THERAPY AND PARKINSON'S DISEASE,

however, as Prof. Andrew Huberman has continued to expand the lecture series, the amount of material he has created on dopamine biochemistry alone has become a major resource, and I feel it now deserves space in its own right. I will continue to follow the lectures, pick out the sections relevant to dopamine, and update and include here.

The Huberman Lab Podcast

The Huberman Lab podcast is a lecture series by Prof. Andrew Huberman, professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine, on practical and free tools for optimizing health based on the very latest neuroscience and human biology research. This podcast contains vital, actionable, and need-to-know information for people with Parkinson’s Disease, in particular of the latest pragmatic research into dopamine biochemistry.

Dopamine is the major neuromodulator which is most problematic in PD, and the target for the mainstay medical interventions. So here I’ve extracted from the podcast episodes the timestamps of everything Prof. Huberman has to teach us on the subject of how to optimize our dopamine biochemistry. The format is the episode title, in order of release, followed by the corresponding timestamp links and descriptions whenever dopamine is referred to.

Optimize Your Learning & Creativity with Science-based Tools | Huberman Lab Podcast #8

• 26:52 “GO” versus “NO-GO”: The Basal Ganglia & Dopamine

• 28:37 Leveraging GO, NO-GO

• 30:08 Non-Specific Action

• 32:06 Clear, Calm, Focused: The GO, NO-GO Sweet Spot

How Foods and Nutrients Control Our Moods | Huberman Lab Podcast #11

• 00:32:01 L-Tyrosine, Dopamine, Motivation, Mood, & Movement

• 00:34:04 Supplementing L-Tyrosine, Drugs of Abuse, Wellbutrin

• 00:43:38 Eating to Promote Dopamine (Daytime) & Serotonin (Night Time)

• 00:48:05 Mucuna Pruriens: The Dopamine Bean with a Serotonin Outer Shell

How to Increase Motivation & Drive | Huberman Lab Podcast #12

• 00:06:22 Motivation & Movement: The Dopamine Connection

• 00:07:29 A Double-Edged Dopamine Blade

• 00:08:56 Dopamine Fundamentals: Precursor to Adrenaline

• 00:10:15 The Reward Pathway: An Accelerator & A Brake

• 00:12:10 Motivation= Pleasure Plus Pain

• 00:14:14 The Dopamine Staircase: Food, Sex, Nicotine, Cocaine, Amphetamine

• 00:16:15 Subjective Control of Dopamine Release

• 00:17:40 Social Media and Video Games

• 00:18:15 Addiction & Dopamine: Progressively Diminishing Returns

• 00:38:58 Dopamine-Prolactin Dynamics: Sex, Reproduction & Refractory Periods

• 00:43:25 Schizophrenia, Dopamine Hyperactivity and Side Effects of Anti-Dopaminergic Drugs

• 00:45:08 Prolactin, Post-Satisfaction “Lows” & Extending the Arc of Dopamine

• 01:03:55 Leveraging Dopamine Schedules

• 01:05:22 Subjective Control of Dopamine and Drug Effects: The “Adderall” Experiment

• 01:09:03 Caffeine May Protect Dopamine Neurons, Methamphetamine Kills Them

• 01:10:57 Nicotine: Dopamine, Possible Neuroprotection, Prolactin Increase

• 01:11:53 Gambling, Intermittent Reinforcement, & Persistent Goal Seeking (Bad and Good)

• 01:14:14 Intermittent Halting of Celebration; Enjoy Your Wins, But Not All of Them

The Science of How to Optimize Testosterone & Estrogen | Huberman Lab Podcast #15

• 00:15:46 The Power of Competition, Plus: Anxiety, Persistence & Dopamine

• 00:56:30 Light Viewing Patterns & Hormones: Dopamine, GnRH

How to Learn Skills Faster | Huberman Lab Podcast #20

• 00:43:00 Why Increasing Baseline Levels of Dopamine Prior To Learning Is Bad

The Science of Vision, Eye Health & Seeing Better | Huberman Lab Podcast #24

• 00:28:00 Subconscious Vision: Light, Mood, Metabolism, Dopamine; Frog’s Skin In Your Eyes

How Smell, Taste & Pheromone-Like Chemicals Control You | Huberman Lab Podcast #25

• 00:48:30 Dopamine, Sense Of Smell, New Neurons & New Relationships.

The Science of Hearing, Balance & Accelerated Learning | Huberman Lab Podcast #27

• 00:43:54 White Noise Can Enhance Learning & Dopamine

• 01:48:55 Accelerating Balance

• 01:51:55 Self-Generated Forward Motion.

How to Optimize Your Brain-Body Function & Health | Huberman Lab Podcast #30

• 01:38:53 Sensing Feelings, Vagus Nerve, Stress.

How to Control Your Sense of Pain & Pleasure | Huberman Lab Podcast #32

• 00:01:50 Protocol 1: Maximizing Motivation (with Dopamine & Pleasure)

• 01:44:02 Protocol 8: Love & Pain, Dopamine

• 01:49:23 Pleasure & Reproduction, Dopamine & Serotonin, Oxytocin

• 01:51:40 Protocol 9: PEA, L-Phenylalanine (Precursor to Tyrosine)

• 01:55:40 Contextual Control of Pleasure by Autonomic Arousal, Dopamine Baselines

• 01:59:40 Pleasure-Pain Balance

• 02:01:24 Protocol 10: Controlling Pleasure, Dopamine & Motivation Over Time

• 02:06:40 Protocol 11: Immediate, Non-Goal-Directed Pleasure, PAG

Dr. Anna Lembke: Understanding & Treating Addiction | Huberman Lab Podcast #33

• 00:07:00 Dopamine, Happiness & Impulsivity

• 00:15:56 What Is Pleasure?

• 00:18:20 Addiction, Boredom & Passion for Life

• 00:24:00 Pain-Pleasure Balance Controls Addiction

• 00:29:10 Dopamine Deficits, Anhedonia

• 00:50:05 How to Break an Addiction

• 00:55:25 Relapse, Craving & Triggers

• Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence (new book): https://amzn.to/3AHHGBp

Understanding & Conquering Depression | Huberman Lab Podcast #34

• 00:26:58 Norepinephrine, Dopamine & Serotonin

• 00:37:00 Epinephrine/Motor Functions, Dopamine/Motivation & Craving, Serotonin/Emotions

Dr. Robert Sapolsky: Science of Stress, Testosterone & Free Will | Huberman Lab Podcast #35

• 00:29:20 How Dopamine Impacts Testosterone & Motivation

ADHD & How Anyone Can Improve Their Focus | Huberman Lab Podcast #37

• 00:24:10 Hyper-Focus & Dopamine

• 00:32:57 Low Dopamine in ADHD & Stimulant Use & Abuse

• 01:22:50 Blinking, Dopamine & Time Perception; & Focus Training

• 01:30:10 Reverberatory Neural & Physical Activity 01:33:40 Adderall, Ritalin & Blink Frequency

• 01:51:45 Modafinil & Armodafanil: Dopamine Action & Orexin

• 01:59:04 L-Tyrosine, (PEA) Phenylethylamine

Controlling Your Dopamine For Motivation, Focus & Satisfaction | Huberman Lab Podcast #39

• 00:00:00 Introduction & Tool 1 to Induce Lasting Dopamine

• 00:09:58 What Dopamine (Really) Does

• 00:15:30 Two Main Neural Circuits for Dopamine

• 00:18:14 How Dopamine Is Released: Locally and Broadly

• 00:22:03 Fast and Slow Effects of Dopamine

• 00:25:03 Dopamine Neurons Co-Release Glutamate

• 00:28:00 Your Dopamine History Really Matters

• 00:30:30 Parkinson’s & Drugs That Kill Dopamine Neurons. My Dopamine Experience

• 00:36:58 Tool 3 Controlling Dopamine Peaks & Baselines

• 00:40:06 Chocolate, Sex (Pursuit & Behavior), Nicotine, Cocaine, Amphetamine, Exercise

• 00:46:46 Tool 4 Caffeine Increases Dopamine Receptors

• 00:49:54 Pursuit, Excitement & Your “Dopamine Setpoint”

• 00:56:46 Your Pleasure-Pain Balance & Defining “Pain”

• 01:00:00 Addiction, Dopamine Depletion, & Replenishing Dopamine

• 01:07:50 Tool 5 Ensure Your Best (Healthy) Dopamine Release

• 01:15:28 Smart Phones: How They Alter Our Dopamine Circuits

• 01:19:45 Stimulants & Spiking Dopamine: Counterproductive for Work, Exercise & Attention

• 01:22:20 Caffeine Sources Matter: Yerba Mate & Dopamine Neuron Protection

• 01:24:20 Caffeine & Neurotoxicity of MDMA

• 01:26:15 Amphetamine, Cocaine & Detrimental Rewiring of Dopamine Circuits

• 01:27:57 Ritalin, Adderall, (Ar)Modafinil: ADHD versus non-Prescription Uses

• 01:28:45 Tool 6 Stimulating Long-Lasting Increases in Baseline Dopamine

• 01:37:55 Tool 7 Tuning Your Dopamine for Ongoing Motivation

• 01:47:40 Tool 8 Intermittent Fasting: Effects on Dopamine

• 01:53:09 Validation of Your Pre-Existing Beliefs Increases Dopamine

• 01:53:50 Tool 9 Quitting Sugar & Highly Palatable Foods: 48 Hours

• 01:55:36 Pornography

• 01:56:50 Wellbutrin & Depression & Anxiety

• 01:58:30 Tool 10 Mucuna Pruriens, Prolactin, Sperm, Crash Warning

• 02:01:45 Tool 11 L-Tyrosine: Dosages, Duration of Effects & Specificity

• 02:05:20 Tool 12 Avoiding Melatonin Supplementation, & Avoiding Light 10pm-4am

• 02:07:00 Tool 13 Phenylethylamine (with Alpha-GPC) For Dopamine Focus/Energy

• 02:08:20 Tool 14 Huperzine A

• 02:10:02 Social Connections, Oxytocin & Dopamine Release

• 02:12:20 Direct & Indirect Effects: e.g., Maca; Synthesis & Application

Using Your Nervous System to Enhance Your Immune System | Huberman Lab Podcast #44

• 01:29:10 Brain Chemicals & Cyclic-Hyperventilation; Catecholamines, Dopamine

• 01:37:00 Tool 8: Healthy Mindsets, Hope, Dopamine; Tool 9: Tyrosine; Tool 10: Cold Exposure

Time Perception & Entrainment by Dopamine, Serotonin & Hormones | Huberman Lab Podcast #46

• 00:34:40 Dopamine (& Nor/epinephrine) Lead to Time Overestimation; Frame Rate

• 00:39:10 Dopamine vs. Serotonin Across the Day; Tool 7: When to Do Rigid vs. Creative Work

• 00:50:04 Why Trauma Involves Dopamine & Epinephrine, Arousal

• 00:51:03 Dopamine, Spontaneous Blinking & Time Perception; Tool 8

• 00:53:38 Deliberate Cold Exposure, Dopamine, Tool 9: Adjusting Frame Rate in Discomfort

• 01:03:00 Dopamine Release Resets the Start of Each Time Bin on Our Experience

Science of Social Bonding in Family, Friendship & Romantic Love | Huberman Lab Podcast #51

• 00:22:48 What is Social Homeostasis & Dopamine