Newly Discovered Ebb and Flow of Brain Chemicals that Drive Learning – Continuously

So according to the title we are constantly learning?

Well, of course. We learn small things day by day in our daily interactions but the interesting bit about this research is how they discovered this mechanism in the brain.

So what ebb and flow are we talking about?

Well you may have heard of the dopamine hit. This has become a topic with social media with the little hits of excitement at each new click stimulating dopamine, a neurotransmitter that is known for its involvement in reward. Dopamine has also been known to be strongly involved in learning mechanisms in the brain stimulating attention and neuroplasticity also.

So far so good but is it just dopamine?

As I always say, everything in the brain is much more complicated than you can imagine – so no it never is just dopamine and in this research Dr Anne Krok and colleagues of the NYU Grossman School of Medicine looked at dopamine and acetylcholine and how they interacted in the learning process in the mouse brain.

And?

First off, they looked at the learning process and hit is highest when dopamine is high and acetylcholine is low – so it is not just dopamine but an interaction with acetylcholine (which itself is involved in multiple processes). After a small reward was given dopamine levels rose and acetylcholine dropped – this stimulated learning.

But what they also noticed is that this ebb and flow is not only stimulated by reward – in the case of mice in this research, drinking, but that there seems to be this natural ebb and flow and these two transmitters seem to be constantly interacting with surges of dopamine and drops in acetylcholine.

So the brain is basically a pulsing learning mechanism?

Indeed, this suggests this is how it is – the brain primes itself for learning and does not necessarily need external rewards – there is a natural pulsing ebb and flow of transmitters that naturally stimulate learning mechanism – which could also be signatures of the brain rehearsing past events (see my post here on short bursts of learning and brain activity).

Good news then?

Good to know this and not to be just focused on rewards – it can also help us explain other learning processes in daily life but also how some disorders can impact learning and rewiring of the brain ranging from Parkinson’s to Schizophrenia.

And how to stimulate this ebb and flow

The million dollar question! Probably hard to influence but thinking about it, it would likely be highest in lower stress levels because this would allow a more natural ebb and flow – the old advice holds true!