The Neuroscience of Gratitude
The Benefits of a Backward Outlook
Gratitude is an attitude, an increasingly scarce one that seems to be an antidote to our addictions and depressions. But how can we scientifically define gratitude? and how can we achieve it?
The Curse of Forward-Looking Neurotransmitter
As explained in Chapter 4 of my book “Masks, Crutches, and Daggers: The Science of our Self-delusional, Addictive Homo economicus Brain,” the release of dopamine, the primary neurotransmitter that our brain uses to authorize our body’s pursuits and motivations, is mainly calibrated by the “surplus” reward we feel when we reach or exceed our goals and milestones. But there is a problem with this mechanism. To remain motivated in life, we need to constantly receive additional rewards by reaching or exceeding goals and raising the bar. If we fail, get burned out or fatigued in this process, we will suffer from depression. But if we keep moving towards higher and higher goals, the so-called “The Sky’s the limit” attitude, we become perseverative, relentless and dependent (addicted) on dopamine. As a result, modern humans often walk a tightrope between fatigue or burnout, depression or addiction, anxiety or recklessness, all rooted in the forward-looking (prospective) nature of dopamine and our motivations. In fact, new research shows increased levels of dopamine will make us more impatient. This “temporal discounting” in our prospective perception of time is explained in more depth in my book.
Gratitude and the Backward-Looking Neurotransmitter
By helping us focus on our past accomplishments and current blessings, gratitude conditions us to balance our forward outlook with a backward perspective, and to ask ourselves: “How far am I in my journey from my starting point? How many obstacles have I so far overcome and survived?” Backward is a negative word in our culture. Progressives and modernists use the word pejoratively against traditionalists and conservatives. Yet in our brains, without a backward-focused neurotransmitter, our body and mind will vacillate between the extremes of depression or addiction imposed by forward-looking feedback loops.
That backward-looking neurotransmitter which curbs our enthusiasm and addictions is called serotonin. It’s in the same family of neurochemicals as melatonin, the sleep, relaxation and healing neurotransmitter. Serotonin plays a key role in our sense of contentment and gratitude. Contrary to the “temporal discounting” effects of forward-looking neural circuits, serotonin slows down our perception of time and makes us more patient. The following is a modified excerpt from my book:
High serotonin levels seem to dampen and balance the behaviorally reinforcing effects of dopamine. In mice, serotonin mediates impulse control whilst anticipating a future reward. Low levels of serotonin are associated with drug addiction. Paradoxically, drugs that increase both dopamine and serotonin, such as monoamine releasers and their most commonly used variants such as cocaine, amphetamine and Methylenedioxy Methamphetamine (MDMA or ecstasy) disrupt serotonin’s role in facilitating contentment. In such cases, serotonin seems to reinforce steadiness in the addictive rewarding behavior. Some researchers map serotonin action to liking and dopamine to wanting a reward.
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We learned that serotonin, the contentment neuropeptide, keeps us motivated in the face of disappointment — less than expected rewards. Neurologically speaking, The Rolling Stones’ popular song (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction is an indicator of serotonin deficiency! So we can call this brain chemical the satisfaction neurotransmitter too. In fact, research has shown a low ratio of serotonin to dopamine, which leads to impaired serotonergic regulation of dopamine activity, is associated with psychopathy and disinhibition of aggressive impulses.
We can activate our brain’s serotonergic circuits by practicing contentment and simplicity, an attitude of “Yes I can, but I won’t!” Religious or spiritual sects like Sufis, Buddhists and Quakers practice simplicity as a life principle. Historically, many Quakers, Buddhists and Sufis were wealthy so simplicity and contentment did not mean starvation or anhedonia. Contentment is a practical and effective strategy for the wealthy and their children to resist getting spoiled (addicted) by dopamine when faced with abundance, novelty and change. “Yes I can afford that, but I won’t buy it!” For the non-wealthy, contentment saves precious time and resources needed to pursue longer-term, more challenging goals in life.
Perhaps nobody can summarize the real value of contentment better than Jose’ Mujica, Uruguay’s former poet-farmer-philosopher President, who stepped down voluntarily after one term to attend to his flower gardens:
“Either you’re happy with very little, free of all that extra luggage because you have happiness inside, or you don’t get anywhere... I am not advocating poverty. I am advocating sobriety... When you buy something, you’re not paying money for it. You’re paying with the hours of (your) life earning that money. The difference is that life is one thing money can’t buy. Life only gets shorter. And it is pitiful to waste one’s life and freedom that way.”
Mujica did not wear political masks. A former freedom fighter guerrilla and political prisoner-turned-President of Uruguay (2010-2015) he is described as “the world’s poorest President.” He declined to live in the presidential palace and instead lives on a small farm with his wife. They cultivate and sell chrysanthemums for a living and he donates 90 percent of his monthly salary to charities that benefit poor people and small entrepreneurs because he can live on the income from their sales of flowers.
Practicing contentment and the release of serotonin allows us to appreciate little things in life and become an overall better stronger human by becoming more resilient, empathetic, spiritual, soulful, and strategic in life - remember serotonin is also the strategy hormone. Naturally releasing serotonin is also a preferred way over using SSRI (Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) drugs to prevent or fight depression. Surprisingly, SSRIs like Fluvoxamine are now being studied as potential early treatments for COVID-19 or as a treatment for its long term neurological effects (fatigue, foggy brain, etc.). One could expect that the natural release of serotonin may also help against the disease too.
And remember from Chapter 4 that serotonin plays two other major roles. It activates…
The book, which took me longer than my Ph.D. thesis to write, is my uncensored insight and a simple practical guide to how our body and brain communicate, balance (health), or burn out (disease).
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This is not a medical diagnosis book but it will make a difference in your life by helping you understand in simple language the complex nature of body-brain feedback loops as the common denominator of disorders and diseases (such as diabetes, hypertension, weight gain, dementia, sleep disorders, constipation, infertility), and discords (fights, divorces, lawsuits, riots, wars).