“You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.” -Missy Franklin
Photograph by Master Photographer Doug Walker: “Images with Impact” A promising young swimmer poolside at the Valley Athletic Club (VAC) in Tumwater, WA where I swim daily. I really appreciate photographs like this one taken by Doug Walker. Although the perspective makes it look longer, the swimming pool pictured is a 25 yard (short course) six lane competition pool. I daily swim from 1500 to 2500 yards in this pool, a mile being 1760 yards. Doug Walker’s exhibition depicting various facets of amateur athleticism is on display in the hallway of the VAC.
Keeping the Momentum Going
According to my research, the motor neurons of the brain undergoing the pathology of dementia become more and more dopamine depleted over time. My research also indicates that afflicted persons find it more and more difficult to walk, move, and speak normally as time goes on. This is very similar to the pathology of Parkinson’s Disease where motor neurons in the brain also become quite depleted in the neurotransmitter dopamine.
A case in point: My family and I are currently care giving for a parent with unspecified (presumably senile) dementia. I have noted that on days that the parent experiences “greater mental clarity” are also the very same days the parent concomitantly evidences “much better walking gait fluency.” It appears to me that the affected parent is experiencing rapid “on and off” switching of gait fluency on days of greater mental clarity, a phenomenon well-recognized in Parkinson’s Disease, again associated with dopamine neuron function or lack of it. It turns out that dopamine is also a key neurotransmitter for memory and spoken language functions in all of our brains.
Symptoms of overall dopamine deficiency include lack of motivation, fatigue, lack of concentration, anxiety or moodiness, anhedonia, depression, low sex drive, and trouble sleeping.
Dopamine Potentiators
I have found that one of the most powerful potentitators of endogenous dopamine in our brains is engaging in daily medium to long distance endurance exercise. Both walking, cycling, and swimming fill that bill for me quite well. ‘Potentiation’ of anything essentially means to make it work better and more efficiently. For example, benzodiazepines such as Valium or Xanax (previously discussed in my blog) are very strong potenitators of the endogenous inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma amino butyric acid (GABA), a key inhibitoory neurotransmitter regulating anxiety. The benzodiazepine molecules bind to a site adjacent to GABA receptors in the brain. When they bind, benzodiazepines effect a change in the 3-dimensional conformation of the GABA receptor, causing it to bind much more tightly and efficiently to available GABA molecules.
In much the same way, aerobic exercise resets and effects conformational changes in the 3-dimensional structure of the receptor proteins at dopamine receptor sites, possibly via release and adjacent site binding of natural endogenous opioid-like potentiator molecules (endorphins and enkephalins) near dopamine receptors, thus potentiating the potency of already available endogenous dopamine.
Image taken poolside at the Tumwater Valley Athletic Club December 22, 2023. I swam 2000 yards (1.14 miles) freestyle crawl that day.
Above is a video of 100 yards (four lengths of the pool) of that swim. Swimming 2000 yards typically burns about 590 kcal for me. Low impact aerobic swimming also provides wonderful benefits for the cardiovascular system, skin and other organ systems throughout the body, and greatly relieves deep arthritic pain, increasing body flexibility, mobility, and gait fluency. It also resets and increases the sensitivity of dopamine receptors (and GABA receptors by the way) throughout the body and brain, much like repeated distance exercise eventually decreases cellular insulin resistance. The mechanism behind this exercise driven dopamine receptor sensitivity ‘reset’ is not completely understood. One note of caution- pushing far beyond endurance limits can significantly deplete brain dopamine. The best part of the swim is at its end when I climb down into the 105 F Jacuzzy in the Executive Locker Room and soak for 15 minutes!
Foods that Replenish and Increase Natural Dopamine
By-the-way- the following foods in moderation increase natural dopamine levels:
Fish, poultry, dairy products, strawberries, green leafy cruciferous vegetables, green tea, eggs, nuts, coffee, and Fava beans (Mucuna pruriens). Fava beans are especially effective at raising dopamine levels in the body because they are high in L-dopa, the natural precursor of dopamine. If you take L-dopa with carbidopa or other prescription medicines such as dopamine agonists (Ropinirole, Pramipexol, bromocriptine, apomorphine, etc.) for Parkinson’s Disease related symptoms, be very careful with fava beans or their derived supplements available in vitamin shops and online. Ask your doctor or pharmacist when in doubt. A very high concentration of dopamine in the body can be neurotoxic!
Navigation
World War II Era Antique Car Seen in the Parking Lot at the Valley Athletic Club.
We saw this really cool working antique auto in the parking lot of the VAC last week. I have rarely seen this type of auto over my lifetime.
Inexplicably, my navigational skills have returned to me in a large way since the advent of riding my ebike all over Olympia and Tumwater. I built on my navigational skills I had regained during the last two years of walking all over town 2022-2023. Now, I routinely ride my bike up to Lacey and south to Tenino, outlying towns and areas.
What I can say about that is that if we don’t regularly use our navigational skills, they quickly atrophy and disappear as they rapidly did for me during the COVID pandemic lock down and isolation period. The key to regaining these skills for me was to get out and start traveling again as soon as the mandatory isolation was lifted.
Thanks to my ebike, the sky is the limit now. I am only limited by the range of my ebike. It was also very important for me to work out my paths and drive these travel routes for myself. My navigational skills have exponentially returned since the beginning of traveling on my ebike. I am now even recalling routes I used to drive but have not yet traveled on my ebike, even in other states like California and Oregon. That is nearly unheard of for a person like me that was not supposed to be able to ‘improve’ my memory but would only get worse according to ‘expert’ mainstream medical prognosticators. Don’t ever let anyone feed you that malarkey about yourself or a loved one! Keep moving, traveling, and learning. Push the limits of what you think is possible and you will surprise everyone, including yourself!