Let’s Talk Brain Juice: My Personal Ranking of Neurotransmitters That Make Up The Cast of Characters in My Brain Drama

Let’s get one thing straight: Parkinson’s isn’t just about low dopamine. That’s like saying the Titanic sank because someone left the sink running. Nah, it’s more complicated—and if you’re living with this mess, or love someone who is, you deserve to know what’s really going on under the hood.

Your brain runs on a cocktail of neurotransmitters—chemical messengers that handle everything from movement to mood to whether or not you cry during dog food commercials. And when just one of them starts slacking off? The whole system can go sideways fast.

Here’s my personal, slightly sarcastic, totally honest breakdown of the major neurotransmitters—what they do, why they matter, and how they’ve made my life one long chemistry experiment. Ranked in order of how much chaos they cause in my life:

🥇 Dopamine – The Fallen King

This one’s the reason I’m shaking. It controls movement, motivation, pleasure, and reward. When dopamine dips, so do you. Hello tremors, stiffness, apathy, and that weird feeling that you don’t care about anything, not even pizza.

🥈 Serotonin – The Zen Master

Keeps you calm, balanced, and sleeping like a semi-functional adult. Low levels? Say hello to depression, anxiety, and insomnia—the Parkinson’s hat trick. Without it, your inner critic gets a megaphone.

🥉 Norepinephrine – The Stress Siren

Your built-in Red Bull. Helps with focus and blood pressure. When this one's off, you're dizzy, spaced out, and can't figure out if you're tired or wired. Often both. At once.

Acetylcholine – The Memory Keeper

Handles memory, learning, and muscle control. When it goes, so does your ability to remember why you walked into the kitchen… or how to walk out without knocking something over.

GABA – The Brake Pedal

Calms everything down. Keeps your anxiety and overthinking in check. When GABA’s not doing its job, you feel like a squirrel with a caffeine problem.

Glutamate – The Gas Pedal

Boosts brain activity, learning, and memory. Great in small doses. Too much, though, and you get migraines, brain fog, and potential neuron damage. It’s like giving espresso to a toddler.

Histamine – The Itchy Alarm Clock

Helps with wakefulness and appetite, but also plays a role in brain inflammation. Basically, it’s the guy who wakes you up too early and eats all your snacks.

Oxytocin – The Hug Dealer

Controls love, bonding, and emotional connection. Sweet, warm, and fuzzy. But if dopamine’s gone missing, good luck feeling all that lovely-dovey stuff consistently.

Endorphins – The Painkillers

Nature’s morphine. These kick in when you laugh, cry, exercise, or stub your toe and try to act cool about it.

Substance P – The Pain Conductor

Sends pain messages and amps up inflammation. Basically, the drama queen of your nervous system.

Anandamide – The Bliss Molecule

Your inner chill button. It binds to the same receptors as THC. Think post-laughter glow or runner’s high—without the sweat.

Glycine – The Assistant to GABA

Inhibitory and calming, mostly working the night shift in your spinal cord. Keeps the chaos from reaching the brain too fast.

Nitric Oxide – The Silent Messenger

Not even a molecule—this one's a gas. But it still helps regulate blood flow and cell communication. Think of it as the quiet kid who aces all their tests.

Aspartate – Glutamate’s Backup

Also excitatory, but less chaotic. Think of it as Glutamate’s understudy who won’t trash the place when given the mic.

Taurine – The Sleepy Bodyguard

Found in energy drinks, oddly enough, but actually calming in the brain. Neuroprotective and anti-anxiety. Weird flex, but okay.

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) – The Survivalist

Kicks in during stress and starvation. Boosts appetite, lowers anxiety. Basically convinces you to eat carbs and nap in a cave.

Enkephalins – Endorphin’s Little Sibling

Quietly handles pain and pleasure in the background. Always there. Always helpful. Never demands credit.

Dynorphins – The Emo Cousin

Opposite of endorphins. Can increase pain and stress. Why? Who knows. Probably listens to sad playlists on repeat.

Rare and Specialized Honorable Mentions:

• Somatostatin – Mood and hormone control

• CCK – Satiety, digestion, and panic (fun!)

• Vasopressin – Water balance and memory

• CRH – Cortisol control

• Neurotensin – Regulates dopamine and pain

• TRH – Mood and metabolism

• Melatonin – Sleep cycle boss (technically a hormone, but acts like a neuro-messenger)

🧠 Final Thoughts from Inside the Brain Blender:

So yes—dopamine is the headliner, but it’s not a one-man show. Your brain is like a biochemical orchestra, and when one musician goes rogue, the rest start improvising. The result? A beautiful mess—sometimes heavy on the mess.

But here’s the deal: the more we understand this, the better we fight back. With meds. With community. With sarcasm. And with a little grace for the weird, unpredictable symphony we’re all conducting from the inside out.

Still shaky. Still standing. Still overthinking every symptom.
– Richie
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P.S. Want more no-fluff breakdowns, real talk, and a few shaky punchlines?
Join me at voiceunshaken.com/subscribe. No med school degree required—just curiosity and a working BS detector.

And if you’ve got a friend who might appreciate this kind of content—Parkinson’s or not—feel free to send them the link. The more, the shakier.