When life hits hard, your dopamine doesn’t disappear — it shifts.
In this raw and eye-opening episode, Emily breaks down how stress, trauma, and constant chaos can rewire your reward system. You’ll learn why peace feels uncomfortable, why drama feels addictive, and how your brain confuses survival mode for motivation. Then in her powerful Fix Your Chemistry rant, Emily shows you how to regulate your nervous system, rebuild healthy dopamine pathways, and finally make calm feel good again.
This one hits deep — and it hits home.
Sources & Notes (Episode 7)
• Loeb, J., Lone Star Neurology (2023): “How Chronic Stress Affects Dopamine and Mental Health.”
• Nature Reviews Neuroscience (2010): Dopamine and chronic stress mechanisms.
• McGill University (2020): “Understanding the Brain’s Reward System and Addiction Mechanisms.”
• Lembke A., Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence (2021).
• Harvard Medical School (2022): Vagus nerve activation and stress regulation.
• American Psychological Association (2021): Sensory overstimulation and dopamine regulation.
• Sapolsky R. M., Stanford University Lectures (2019): Micro-reward cycles and motivation.
Your brain has a gym membership — and every rep you take trains your dopamine. 🧠💪
In this high-energy episode, Emily breaks down how movement, effort, and rest literally rewire motivation. You’ll learn why consistent exercise sharpens your reward system, how balance prevents burnout, and why “motion is medicine” isn’t just a mantra — it’s neuroscience. Stay tuned for her fiery Fix Your Chemistry rant on how to build discipline that actually feels good.
Sources & Notes (Episode 6)
• Hattori K. et al., NYU Neuroscience Journal Club (2022): Exercise-induced dopamine release.
• Greater Good Science Center – UC Berkeley (2021): Exercise and dopamine-receptor sensitivity.
• Lambert K. G., University of Richmond (2019): Goal-directed movement and dopamine activation.
• Huberman A., Stanford University (2021): Effort + reward neuromodulator interaction.
• Neurobiology of Stress (2022): Effort-rest balance and dopaminergic stability.
• Schultz W., Neuron (2016): Dopamine firing in anticipation of reward.
• Sleep Foundation (2022): Sleep and dopamine-receptor recovery.
• Harvard Health Publishing (2023): Natural light and physical activity as dopamine regulators.
Your habits aren’t built by discipline — they’re built by dopamine. 🧠
In this episode, Emily breaks down how your brain wired behaviors through religion and reward — and why your old dopamine hits still drive your bad habits. You’ll learn how to retrain your brain is the same chemistry that created the loop in the first place. Then, Emily drops the step-by-step on how to unlearn toxic patterns, reward the right ones, and rebuild habits that actually stick.
SOURCES:
• Lerner T. et al., Northwestern Medicine (2022): Dopamine circuits and habit formation.
• Johns Hopkins University News Center (2018): “Why we keep doing things we know are bad for us” — red and green object reward study.
• Schultz W., Neuron (2016): Reward prediction error and anticipation.
• Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (2019): Reward impact on habit formation.
• Lally P. et al., European Journal of Social Psychology (2010): 66-day habit average.
• Wood W., USC Behavioral Science Lab (2020): Habit substitution efficacy.
• Journal of Behavioral Decision Making (2021): Friction and automatic behavior change.
Your brain’s pleasure system is fried. You’re chasing highs but feeling nothing.
In this episode, Emily breaks down dopamine overload — how constant scrolling, caffeine, and chaos dull your motivation and numb your joy. Learn why “dopamine fasting” isn’t about quitting fun, but about reclaiming balance and clarity. Then stick around for her fiery Fix Your Chemistry rant: five ways to reset your dopamine and finally feel alive again.
Sources & Notes (Episode 4)
• Volkow N. D. et al., Biological Psychiatry (2010): Chronic stimulation lowers D2 receptor availability.
• Schultz W., Neuron (2016): Reward prediction error and contrast response.
• Harvard Health Publishing (2023): “How Modern Tech Hijacks Dopamine and Attention.”
• Grinspoon P., Harvard Health Blog (2021): “Dopamine fasting: Why it doesn’t work — and why it might.”
• Goldman B., Stanford Medicine News Center (2021): “‘Dopamine Nation’ author Anna Lembke discusses pleasure, pain, and balance.”
• UCLA Neuroscience Lab (2021): Natural rewards and dopamine regulation.
• Cognitive Brain Research (2018): Multitasking reduces dopaminergic efficiency.
Ever feel like you’ve lost your spark — not sad, not mad, just blah? You’re probably in dopamine burnout. 😩
In this episode, Emily unpacks what happens when your brain’s reward system runs out of fuel. According to neuroscience, constant micro-stimulation — scrolling, sipping, checking, chasing — can actually mute your joy. Learn how to spot the signs of burnout and, more importantly, how to reset your baseline so your motivation comes roaring back.
Before dopamine became a buzzword on the internet, it was a scientific accident. 🧠
Emily takes you back to the 1950s lab where Swedish neuroscientist Arvid Carlsson discovered dopamine’s true power — and how that one finding changed everything about how humans chase reward. From lab rats pressing levers to our modern scroll addictions, this story explains how dopamine went from miracle molecule to modern monster.
Welcome to Dopamine Fiend— the podcast that spikes your brain in the best way possible.
In this first hit, Emily breaks down that dopamine really is— not just the “happy chemical”, but the molecule behind your motivation, your chaos, your cravings, and your goals. You’ll learn why understanding dopamine is the ultimate life cheat code— and why this show might just rewire how you see everything from success to scrolling.
The dopamine hit before the dopamine hits. Backed by neuroscience. Delivered with sass. This is your fix for today 🎧💥