Free The Brain in Love: 12 Lessons to Enhance Your Love Life by Daniel G. Amen Page A

attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and excitement-seeking or high-risk-taking behavior. Both cocaine and stimulant medications, such as methylphenidate (Ritalin), have been shown to enhance its production. Bupropion (Wellbutrin) is an antidepressant that enhances dopamine availability to the brain as well as enhances sexual function. Also, certain amino acid supplements like tyrosine can be used to increase dopamine levels and potentially sexual function as well. I have seen both women and men benefit from Wellbutrin and/or amino acid supplementation either when sexual function has been diminished from low levels of dopamine or when substances like SSRI medications have suppressed sexual interest.
    Serotonin
    Serotonin is known as the “feel good” neurotransmitter and is produced in the midbrain and brain stem. Satisfaction with a partner and the positive feelings after an orgasm are to a large degree controlled by serotonin. Normal serotonin levels help people have healthy moods and motivation. Serotonin is involved with mood regulation and emotional flexibility. Low serotonin levels havebeen associated with depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, impulsivity, and excessive activity in the brain’s anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG). Low levels have also been associated with new love. Unfortunately, this makes lovers vulnerable to high anxiety levels and moodiness, common in the initial stages of a relationship. When serotonin levels are low and the ACG works too hard, people tend to get stuck on certain thoughts or behaviors. Remember the last time you fell in love. All you could think about was your new love, and no matter how busy you were, you could always find time for her. Your moods were up when you thought about her and then down when she didn’t answer her cell phone the first time you called. You felt more reckless and your friends wondered about your judgment. Lowered levels of serotonin make you vulnerable to depression if the relationship ends prematurely.
    In my clinical practice, I spend most of my time scanning the brains of people who need help. As part of my research, I scan many healthy people as well. Several years ago, one of my friends was scanned as part of our healthy-brain study. Several months later he fell madly in love. One day he dropped by my office to tell me about his new love. I could hear in his voice that he was so taken with his new woman that I did a repeat scan on him just to see his brain in love. The second scan showed significant increased activity in the anterior cingulate gyrus and basal ganglia, indicating his brain was literally obsessed with the woman; probably a measure of his serotonin levels would have revealed low levels at that time.
    High serotonin levels can also be a problem and are associated with lowered motivation. Medications that enhance serotonin, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like Prozac and Lexapro are notorious for decreasing sexual drive and function in part because recipients of these medications can lose interest if there is too much serotonin circulating in the brain, but also because these medications can decrease sensation in the genital areas, making it harder to achieve orgasm.
    Dopamine and serotonin tend to counterbalance each other inthe brain. When dopamine levels are high, such as in new love, people tend to be motivated and driven toward dating behaviors that bring people closer together. Higher levels of dopamine cause lower levels of serotonin, which have been associated with obsessive thinking, hence the feeling of falling in love. When serotonin levels are high, people tend to have lowered motivation and an almost “I don’t care” attitude.
    Phenylethylamine
    Phenylethylamine (PEA), an adrenalinelike substance, the chemical found in chocolate, speeds up the flow of information between nerve cells and is triggered in the process of attraction to help us pay attention to the love feelings.