Stress, Dopamine, and the Brain: Understanding the Connection

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter with a vital role in several functions of the brain: sleep, mood, motivation, behavior, reward, cognition, attention and voluntary movements. As a result, any type of stress can be a significant influence on the cerebral dopaminergic (DA) system.

Function

• The body physiologically responds to stressful conditions by activating the DA system, which triggers the release of dopamine.

Fight or Flight

• Dopamine is a precursor to norepinephrine, which is a stress hormone synthesized from dopamine and released in the body's fight-or-flight response to a stressful event.

Psychological Stress

• Research in Neuropsychopharmacology (July 2008) shows that psychologically stressful situations also increase the release of dopamine, and that significant psychosocial stressors (e.g., mother-infant relationship disruptions) can have long lasting effects.

Effects

• The release of dopamine is a coping mechanism for the body when impacted by stressful conditions; the levels will rise and fall with the addition or removal of stressors respectively.

Behaviors

• In response to additional stress, an organism's increased production of dopamine can provoke certain behaviors such as hyperactivity: this is because dopamine has a role in the control of movement, understanding and some social behaviors (i.e., emotional reactions, impulsiveness).

Risk Factors

• Abnormal function of the DA system (such as overproduction of dopamine) can lead to psychosis (hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, mania) according to research in the Journal of Neuroscience (March 2004).