71:: Your dopamine system through the lens of The Summer I Turned Pretty (Is your dopamine system Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah?)

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This might be a pretty niche episode,

but let's look at our dopamine system

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through the eyes of the summer.

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I turned pretty.

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Welcome back to Wellness Fixes the Pod.

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I'm your host, Dr.

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Kelsey Vic aboard certified orthopedic Dr.

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Physical Therapy and a pelvic

floor physical therapist.

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And if you're like me, you've been

obsessed with this show probably since.

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I don't know when it first started,

but now that we're on season three,

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the final season, it's been something

that I look forward to every week.

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And the more that I thought about

it, the more that I realized how

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much it related to neuroscience,

primarily our dopamine system.

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So I love making health and wellness and

learning about your body, fun and trendy.

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What better way to learn

about our dopamine systems?

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Then combine it with the summer.

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I turn pretty and take a look at how

both Conrad and Jeremiah resemble

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our dopamine system in some way.

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This is probably one of my favorite

things to do, is relate current

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trends and just things that we

all sort of like understand.

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Like the summer I turn pretty, we've done

a mean girl episode talking about how

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cortisol is the misunderstood mean girl.

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We've related the immune system to sibling

dynamics, so this is something I enjoy

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doing to help solidify concepts in my

brain by linking them to things that are

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enjoyable and fun and easy to remember.

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So that's what we're gonna do today

when we're talking about the dopamine

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system and the summer I turn pretty.

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So we've done a huge sort of deep

dive sciencey episode that I'll

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link in the show nights below.

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Probably back in, I believe it was

spring of last year, we did sort of

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like a spring cleaning series where

we talked about a dopamine detox

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and spring cleaning for your brain.

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So I'll link that episode below.

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But we'll cover the dopamine system

from like an umbrella perspective

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first, and then we'll dive into the

fun and relate it to the summer.

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I turn pretty.

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So from a high level perspective, your

dopamine system is involved in things like

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motivation, reward, pursuit, emotions,

memory movement, that's a big one.

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As a physical therapist, it's also

involved in hormonal signaling

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and basically communication.

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So

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dopamine is a key ingredient

in a lot of different processes

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that go on within our body.

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But we're gonna zoom in today on

specifically the like motivation

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and reward pathway, the meso limbic

pathway that dopamine is involved in.

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So there are a few key components to keep

in mind about the motivation and reward

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pathway that dopamine is involved in.

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The first one, I like to sum up

with the phrase, it's about the

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journey, not the destination.

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We find that.

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Dopamine actually peaks throughout

the journey, not necessarily

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when we reach the goal.

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So a lot of the time when we are hunting

after something or embarking on a journey

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or pursuing or yearning after something,

that is when the dopamine boosts or

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dopamine hits can be the highest, not

necessarily when we achieve a goal.

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And I've related this to shopping before,

where if you've ever wanted a certain

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pair of jeans or a certain outfit, or a

certain bag, or a certain pair of shoes,

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the dopamine hit or boost that you get

is oftentimes higher during that yearning

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phase compared to when you get it.

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and a lot of the time, whenever you

receive that item, you often have this

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drop in dopamine below baseline once

you actually obtain the item, because

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your body's sort of trying to reset.

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You've actually been

motivated to pursue the goal.

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Now that you have that goal, your dopamine

boost or dopamine hit is not as high.

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So I like to sum it up with, it

is not about the journey, it's

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about the destination the other.

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Key part about the dopamine system

to keep in mind is that we all have

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a baseline level of dopamine and we

can raise that baseline level and

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we can lower that baseline level.

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But in general, we're talking

about this steady level of

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dopamine within our system.

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Anytime we feel extra motivated

to pursue a goal or extra

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determined, or we're really.

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Basically motivated to go after something

that indicates that we've had an elevation

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in our dopamine levels above baseline.

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And the more motivated we are, the

higher that level above baseline is.

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So it's really not that baseline

level of dopamine that decides our

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motivation level, but rather that

change from baseline above, or.

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Another important key to remember is

that baseline level of dopamine, we might

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feel extra motivated that dopamine might

spike, but then as we reset that system,

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it will depress below baseline before it

settles back at our normal, steady level.

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Yeah, and this reset is really important.

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That way we're not constantly chasing

after a larger and larger delta between

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our baseline and that peak of dopamine.

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That's where things like

addiction come into play, where

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people might have such a high.

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Baseline level of dopamine, that it

takes more and more of an experience

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or substance to get that peak and to

get that change in that dopamine level.

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So from a high level perspective, it's

about the journey, not the destination.

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And we have to monitor the baseline

level, but then also those peaks

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and valleys, and we want those peaks

and valleys and that sort of reset.

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We definitely want that reset

that valley in order to help keep

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our dopamine systems healthy.

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So a little recap of some of

the major players in the summer.

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I turn pretty.

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First off, we have Belly.

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She's the girl.

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She is really close.

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Family friends with the Fisher family

who has two brothers, Jeremiah and Conrad

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and Belly has been obsessed and in love

with Conrad since she was a preteen.

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And they go through this phase where you

can kind of tell they're both into each

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other and at the end they start dating.

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But with.

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Life circumstances that happen, Conrad

and Belly break up, and that's when

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Belly and Jeremiah get together.

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Once belly realizes, oh, maybe

I'm not meant to be with Conrad.

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Maybe I'm meant to be with

his brother, Jeremiah.

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So they end up dating in season three.

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They're engaged.

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So that's where we find

the brothers and belly.

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That's where we find the summer.

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I turn pretty where it's at today.

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So let's talk about Conrad first.

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We find out in season three, Conrad

still has feelings for belly.

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After all of these years, he

is playing the waiting game.

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He is purposefully removing himself

from a reward, from a goal that he

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wants, which is belly's happiness.

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So he's purposefully removing himself

from that situation to encourage

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both of their happiness in their

engagement and in their relationship.

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So Conrad is patient.

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He is anticipating the future,

whether that means belly marrying

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Jeremiah or Belly, realizing

she wants to be with Conrad.

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He's anticipating something happening.

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He's yearning for her still,

but he's trying to control that,

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knowing that his brother is still

in love and engaged to belly.

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However, in season three we see it's

very hard for Conrad to stay away.

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So each little thing that he does in

order to help her happiness or help her

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with wedding planning is this sort of

effort in the pursuit of her happiness and

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ultimately, hopefully her love for him.

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So throughout season three, we see Conrad

really trying to pursue Belly's happiness.

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He still loves her.

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He understands that Jeremiah and her

are engaged and he's not trying to cross

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that boundary, but he really does want to

help her with his wedding planning, help

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her basically to be happy in whatever

way that means for him to help out with,

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even if she's still marrying his brother.

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But throughout this process, he

gets these micro reinforcements

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from her indicating that his effort

and his motivation to help her out.

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It is not in vain.

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So the key thing about our dopamine

system is that , it's about the

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journey, not the destination.

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Throughout the journey, we're supposed

to get these little micro rewards that

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help us to maintain that motivation

and maintain that pursuit of whatever

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goal it is that we're trying to get to.

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For Conrad, that's belly's happiness.

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So he keeps trying to.

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Help her be happy, whether that's going to

Michael's and flower shopping with her or

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making her food to help her try and eat.

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And she doesn't always give him

the response that he wants to see.

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For example, he has cooked her a meal

after realizing that she's not eating

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as well, And she doesn't eat that meal

like he wants, but in other instances,

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he helps her in some way and she gives a

little bit of a micro reward in the form

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of a smile or a big bear hug, or a laugh

or a flashback memory of both of them.

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So throughout the process, he's getting

some rewards for some of the things that

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he does, and then he's also not getting

rewarded for some of those same efforts.

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And that's one of the key things

about our dopamine system.

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If we get rewarded every time, we'll

consider it more of an expectation

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and then it will take more and

more of a reward or stronger and

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stronger of a result in order for

us to maintain that motivation.

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So the important thing

about our dopamine system.

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Is that while we're pursuing a goal,

while we're motivated towards a goal, we

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have intermittent and variable rewards

where we don't expect a reward to happen,

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but sometimes they do come, which again,

increases that motivation, increases

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our willingness to pursue that goal.

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'cause if we got it every time.

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We wouldn't be as motivated to continue

because we'd then expect it and we'd

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know that's a consistent response to

our efforts, rather than not necessarily

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knowing whether or not we are going to get

that reward in order to reach the goal.

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So for Conrad, he wants belly to be happy

and he wants other things too, but we'll,

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we'll pretend that a lot of it is just her

happiness and he receives these occasional

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little smiles, these occasional little.

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Eye contact, sexual attention

moments, different things

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throughout that indicates, okay,

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she's, she's happy, or they're

getting closer and closer to

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where they used to be as a couple.

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Conrad also demonstrates our dopamine

system and the fact that he's action

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oriented, so we can't just be hoping

for something, we actually have to go

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after it and receive those rewards.

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So he finds out that his actions

actually produce the reward, which only

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in turn motivates him more and more.

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So whenever belly is sad about her mom not

coming to her the wedding or the bridal

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shower not being a part of her big event.

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He goes out of his way to meet with

Laurel and tell her, Hey, I really think

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you need to be there for belly and come

to the wedding or else you'll regret it.

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And that action produces the reward

of belly being happy because her

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mom showed up to the bridal shower.

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So Conrad shows our dopamine

system in a lot of different ways.

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He gets variable, intermittent rewards.

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It's about the pursuit, the yearning

after something that he wants, his goal.

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And it's also about actions where your

actions intermittently produce the rewards

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that you want and that further helps

you pursue that goal that you're after.

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Jeremiah is also an example of our

dopamine systems, but primarily

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with his relationship with his dad.

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So in the same way conrad is

pursuing Bell's happiness.

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Jeremiah is pursuing his dad's happiness

and pride and respect for Jeremiah.

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So throughout season three, we

see Jeremiah put in these efforts

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and put in these purposeful

pursuits of his dad's approval.

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And his dad intermittently, variably

gives that micro award, but then

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sometimes he doesn't, which only.

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motivates Jeremiah more and more

to try and pursue that respect and

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pursue that pride from his father

that his father has with Conrad.

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With both brothers.

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We also visually see through

their acting when that dopamine

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level drops below their baseline.

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When they don't receive that reward that

they're looking for or that they were

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hoping that their efforts would result in.

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So for example, when belly doesn't eat or

when she's not necessarily in a as good of

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a me mood and not smiling at him, you can

see his demeanor drop and his face drops.

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Same with Jeremiah when his dad diverts

his attention from Jeremiah to something

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else that he does or says something that.

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It hurts Jeremiah, you can see that

motivation and that pursuit, that

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willingness to pursue drop a little

bit below baseline with their body

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language and their facial expressions.

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And that again, is the reset.

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We need that reset in order to

have this healthy dopamine system.

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So the key to sort of

hacking your dopamine system.

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Related to the summer, I turn pretty.

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We need variable, inconsistent,

intermittent rewards.

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We need action, and we need that reset

below baseline, knowing that it'll come

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back up again to that baseline level

in a few minutes, two hours usually.

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If I had to give a gold

medal to witch brother.

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Demonstrated our dopamine

system in the best way.

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It would of course have to be Conrad,

because not only does he show us with his

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actions that he's pursuing this goal, he

is also getting intermittent rewards from

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belly and variable rewards from belly.

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But he's also purposefully denying

himself, some of those rewards,

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which only helps to further our

motivation and pursuit towards a goal.

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So in a healthy system, in

a healthy dopamine system.

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If you're trying to sort of hack your

own system, you wanna make sure that

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when you reward yourself, it's variable

and inconsistent, which is hard to

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do when you're conscious of the goal

that you are trying to achieve and the

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journey that it takes to get that goal.

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But let's say you're trying to be more

consistent with exercise rather than

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exercising every single morning in the

way that you look forward to it the most.

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For example, if you enjoy working out with

music and a friend, your favorite class.

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Followed by your favorite ice latte after.

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If you combine all of those things every

single day, that's not necessarily helping

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to build that motivation and consistency

that's actually harming your dopamine

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system because you're constantly giving

that stimulus that this is normal.

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This is my new normal.

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This is my new habit formation.

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This is what I expect to

happen when I go work out.

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When if you really want to build

that habit and have that motivation

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towards that goal, varying those

rewards or the amount of enjoyment

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that you get from that activity.

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So maybe one day you listen without music.

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Maybe another day you

don't invite a friend.

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Maybe you just do an at-home workout.

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Varying the amount of enjoyment

that you have with working out

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will actually help increase that

motivation and consistency to workout.

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And I know that's counterintuitive

because you're like I have a

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hard time getting up anyways.

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Why am I gonna not listen to music

or not invite a friend and still

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expect myself to get up and work out?

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But long term, if your goals are

more long term and you wanna have

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that motivation and that pursuit

throughout, it's important to

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make sure that we're not saying.

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Music and friends and a latte is

the new normal for working out.

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We want it to be this enjoyable

experience, but not always get the

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rewards that we want or the pat on

the back that we want throughout

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the habit formation process.

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And I feel like Conrad is a great

example of this, because he stays away

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from belly and Jeremiah throughout, he

purposefully removes himself and decreases

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the chance of that reward happening.

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By physically removing

himself from the situation.

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He also almost self-sabotage us during

that like Michael scene where he's

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like, okay, how long is this gonna be?

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Like?

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He says something that he knows

might hurt her a little bit in

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order to cancel out some of the.

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Feelings that he is arousing

because of their like just super

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fun day and him being near her.

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So I feel like Conrad is probably

the better example of it, but it's

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fun to relate both of them and just

the whole show to neuroscience.

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So I hope you guys enjoyed that.

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Dive into the dopamine system

through the eyes of the summer.

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I turn pretty, if you've followed

the podcast for a while, you know

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that I love combining the sort of

trendy topics that we all sort of

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know about with health and wellness.

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And this was no different.

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So it continued our like fun,

lighthearted summer series

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and I hope you guys enjoyed it

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At the beginning of September, the first

Monday of September, I will release

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our September magazine newsletter.

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It's a magazine that I create that's

an EU magazine that is just fun.

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It's supposed to be nostalgic, like

flipping through those old magazines

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that used to get before plane rides

Like a nostalgic twist on the celebrity

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people magazines, tiger Beat, all

of that, but health and wellness

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style in like a fun and girly way.

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So if you wanna get that in your

inbox, I will leave that link below.

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We are going to have a massive like

habit formation magazine, so we'll

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talk about atomic habits for women.

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We'll talk about the dopamine

system a little bit more in depth.

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We'll also relate it back to the summer

I turn pretty and there's a fun little

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quiz that's gonna be in there that.

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I just like love already.

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I've already created the page for

it, but it's talking about whether

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or not your dopamine system is

Team Jeremiah or Team Conrad.

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So we're riding along that.

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The summer I turned pretty theme

in addition to diving more into the

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dopamine system and atomic habits.

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So if you would like that in your

inbox at the beginning of September,

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I will leave that link below.

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But thank you guys so much for listening.

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Thank you guys for following along.

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Thank you guys for supporting

the podcast in whatever way.

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I've noticed more people leaving reviews.

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So again, I'm just so, so grateful.

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: 00:16:36

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

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: 00:16:37

This is something that I

really, really enjoy doing.

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: 00:16:39

I enjoy educating it, and I really enjoy

getting to tie topics that I care about

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: 00:16:44

and that I think you should care about

into something that's trendy right now.

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: 00:16:48

So I hope y'all enjoyed it.

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: 00:16:49

I hope you learned a little bit more

about your dopamine system, and I

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: 00:16:51

will see you guys again on the next

episode of Wellness Fixes the pod.