#brain chemistry

[sekhmetpaws]

Once more thinking about something that permanently altered my brain's chemistry and the way I see life and I think I should share it here, even if no one is going to see. In the How to Train Your Dragon book series, there is a scene where Hiccup faces an enemy who owns an axe that has two sides, one that is golden and shiny, the other that is blackened, bloody and rusty. He would throw the axe in the air and make decisions depending on which side it would land on. Said axe eventually is used to decide Hiccup's fate. However, despite being trapped by the narrative in many ways, Hiccup is the protagonist of his own destiny. He reaches for the axe as it falls, and turns it himself so it lands on the golden side. Whether the axe was going to land on the gold or the dark side originally is irrelevant. He chooses to be alive and be free. Every time I go through a difficult moment, as I am right now, I think about this scene, as silly as it may be.

I am allowed to grab the destiny axe. And so are you.

[windudemon]

JUNGIAN COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS ARE REALLY NEUROTRANSMITTERS

Dopamine (Ne) is all about exploration, novelty, and active engagement with the world. It’s testing, experimenting, seeing what works, and staying open to multiple perspectives in real time. It’s "what if" thinking, bouncing between ideas, trying them out, and learning through trial and error. This is why the dopamine pathway is short and reactive, driving people to act quickly and be highly responsive to stimuli.

Acetylcholine (Ni) is much more about conception, depth, and refinement. It’s about filtering through possibilities, refining, and finding the most efficient path. This is more about a long-term vision, where you discount distractions and focus on what’s likely to work based on deep internal understanding. Like Ni, acetylcholine works with refined material, builds on past knowledge, and strives for clarity over time. Quality control over quantity. The pathway is longer, as it requires more time for reflection and synthesis.

Norepinephrine (Se) = Sensory Engagement / External Stimulation: Norepinephrine is often about stimulation, arousal, and action in the present moment, which matches Se's focus on immediate sensory input and the world outside. Se engages directly with external stimuli, maximizing the sensory experience—seeing, hearing, touching, and reacting to what's right in front of them, seeking novel or impactful experiences. Norepinephrine similarly drives people to engage with their surroundings, often seeking intensity and excitement. Both want to be in the moment and responsive to the environment.

GABA = Si (Introverted Sensing): GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter, meaning it calms down neural activity and contributes to a sense of stability, relaxation, and grounding. This is highly similar to Si, which is about internal sensory recall, stability, and creating a grounded mental state based on past experiences. Just like Si helps us process and stabilize memories and experiences, GABA contributes to calmness and internal balance.

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Ooops. Clickbait. Only the perceiving functions can be directly associated with neurotransmitters but here is why:

Perceiving functions (Ne, Ni, Se, Si) are more fundamental in terms of information gathering and conceptualizing because they deal with raw data, sensory input, and ongoing experience. These are processes that happen almost automatically and are more closely tied to the REACTIONS of the brain to immediate stimuli, which is where neurotransmitters like dopamine, norepinephrine, GABA, and serotonin come into play.

Judging functions, on the other hand, are higher-order, more abstract, and deal with organizing, categorizing, and deciding how to act on the information the perceiving functions gather. These processes tend to be more cognitive, involving more logical, computational thinking (yes, fi too!), which requires less direct chemical input and is mediated by higher-level brain areas like the prefrontal cortex. They are more internalized, less reactive to real-time input, and more about evaluating and controlling the data.

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But hey! If you really twist my arm, I could associate Fi with serotonin and Fe with oxytocin.

When it comes to Te and Ti, all I can think of is the lack of serotonin and oxytocin. You lack love, you are less moody, you think more robotic, sticking to the facts as opposed to idealistic or personal or communal values.

[s3znl-gr3znl]

shoutout to all the gamers who had their whole brain chemistry completely rewired by that scene in halo 2 where the gravemind is talking to chief and arby

[eomcheong-keun-megi]

Happy 1 Year to Minsung 2 Kids Room

[minotaurmerkaba]

[xiexiecaptain]

Fun fact I've learned through therapy:

The regions of your brain involved in and the neural processes occurring in response to shame, rejection, and other social-emotional pain are extremely similar to those in response to physical pain.

[Source 1] [Source 2] [Source 3]

Obviously they're not identical when you get into the granular patterns.

The point is that the brain's overall neural response and the areas engaged activate the same fight/flight/freeze/fawn to something it identifies as danger similarly, regardless of if the source of said danger is physical pain or social pain/social rejection. Your brain sees that kind of pain as just as dangerous as physical pain. Therefore the neurological and behavioral trauma response patterns engaged follow similarly.

Stop minimizing your trauma, folks.

[sixbucks]

Hacking like a mofo.

[kennaunderthemoon]

things have been awakened within me tonight good god😭

[romirella-96]

Willpower is getting stuff done despite bad dopamine regulation. Motivation is what dopamine regulation is.

[anxietyfrappuccino]

why is it impossible for my brain to exist without causing me mental harm, i feel like a healthy brain would want me to move on, but the brain i have only knows how to latch onto the worse part of my day and not let it go, twisting the memory into thick impenetrable vines and sharp thorns, squeezing at my heart, poisoning every sense of mine till the only thing left is self loathing, grief, and despair.

[psychologybat]

Trying to figure out WHAT THE FUCK I'm doing with digital art for the first time 💀

[patience4not]

[chipmunkweirdo]

Still only hyperfixating on starting the It’s Just Medicine fic.

I had to draw this trio of guys who are really the same guy with 3 different modes of brain chemistry.

Albert-Vincent might act the least like Alvin, but he is still Alvin! You just have to look a little harder to find him, which is reflected in his name. ALbert-VINcent.

And Classic Alvin’s always a treat to play around with when the anxiety isn’t holding him back and sanding off all his edges.

Anyway, I gotta head out now. Fingers crossed Alvin and I can write the first fic chapter on our days off. Sunday and Monday!

[thel0v3cats]

Jeff Buckley was right that was so real

[aromanticannibal]

Hello I am once again asking you to listen to Feldup's new album (edit: ive made a rec post)

[minotaurmerkaba]