By Bradley Stiles, L.Ac.
Can acupuncture increase your willpower?
According to the National Library of Medicine it can! In a study that was conducted using electro-stim at acupuncture point ST 36 acupuncture was shown to stimulate the vagal nerve supporting the bodies ability to produce dopamine.
Dopamine is responsible for your reward response in your brain. Too much dopamine and your aggressive, euphoric, or can cause intense sexual feelings. Not enough dopamine causes you to be at higher risk for Alzheimers, Parkinsons, depression, bipolar disorder, binge eating, addiction, gambling, and schizophrenia.
Acupuncture has also been shown in other scientific studies to regulate dopamine release if there is an excess of dopamine, so it creates a nice balance of dopamine in the body and can result in a reduction of negative symptoms.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3949155/
https://www.optimallivingdynamics.com/blog/increase-dopamine-naturally
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evolutionary-psychiatry/201105/dopamine-primer
Bradley Stiles sees patients in Timonium on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays 7am-12pm. Read more about Bradley at https://cloud9acuclinic.com/bradley-stiles-acupuncturist/
