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Dr. Trish Leigh Podcast
Episode #228: Can Retatrutide Help Addiction? The Science Behind Dopamine and Cravings
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Have you ever noticed that some of the biggest scientific discoveries happen completely by accident? That's exactly what happened here. Researchers weren't studying addiction. They weren't trying to understand alcohol, nicotine, pornography, gambling, or any other compulsive behaviors that we usually associate with the brain's reward system. They were studying a new weight loss medication called Retrotitude. Their goal was actually pretty simple. They wanted to know whether it could help people lose more weight. But as the research continued, something unexpected started happening. Participants weren't just reporting that they were eating less. Many of them said their cravings for completely different things became quieter too. Alcohol, smoking, compulsive shopping, even other reward seeking behaviors. And when I read that, I literally stopped and thought, wait a minute, I don't think this is actually a weight loss story. Of course you know what I thought. I think this is a brain story. Welcome back to the podcast. I'm Dr. Trish Leigh. Let's dive in. This episode is brought to you by my HarperCollins published book, Mind Over Explicit Matter. Learn how artificial stimulation makes miswires your brain and what you can do to rewire it back to purpose, intimacy and connection. Go to drtrishleigh.com book now. If you've been following me for any amount of time, you already know that's where my brain almost always goes. Right? Am I right? Everybody else was talking about the medication, but I found myself thinking something completely different. What does this example of the weight loss med teach us about the brain? Because honestly, I think that's a. A far more interesting conversation. Five years from now, there will probably be another medication that's even better. Science and the pharmaceutical industry keeps moving forward, but what excites me is not a new drug. It's when research accidentally teaches us something fundamental about how our brains actually work. One of the greatest lessons that I learned as a neuroscientist came very early in my career. And honestly, I. It was a little embarrassing. At the time, I was presenting my very first major research study to a room full of professionals. I was very excited because I had found something that I didn't expect. And I remember thinking this could actually be a really important discovery. During the question and answer session, one of my mentors raised her hand and asked me a single question. And she was not a very friendly mentor. She said, is this finding epiphenomenal? And I answered her as best as I could. She asked again, but is it epiphenomenal? I answered again, convinced I had just explained myself very well. Then she asked me a third time. And finally, I had to stop the madness and basically admit in front of an entire room of high level professionals, I'm sorry, but could you please explain what epiphenomenal means to me? Yes, it was very humbling, but I did include it in my research dissertation in my project. But it became one of the most important lessons of my career. She explained that epiphenomenon is something that happens alongside something else, but isn't necessarily the thing that is really underlying it. It wasn't meant to be found. So in other words, just because two things happen together doesn't mean one causes the other. I've never forgotten that lesson, because every single time I read an exciting new research that comes out, I still hear her voice in the back of my mind asking the same question. Is it epiphenomenal? Is this the whole story? Or is it pointing towards something else even bigger? So with epiphenomenon in my mind, that's exactly the question I found myself asking while I read about retrotitude. Is this medication really the story? Or is it revealing something much more important about the brain's reward system? Because if one medication appears to reduce cravings across multiple compulsive behaviors, maybe, just maybe, we've been looking at addiction from the wrong direction all the time. When I say we, I mean the scientific community. Because alcohol isn't the story. Maybe pornography isn't the story at all, or compulsive eating. It's the fact that the reward system that's the real story. Now, before we go any further, if you are someone who enjoys these kinds of conversations, there's many different types of conversations that I have here on this YouTube channel. I would love for you to dive into the brief which explains the neuroscience. I would love for you to check out my Desire Truth bombs on Tuesdays. They're designed to motivate you, but to also shed some light on things that are happening in pop culture. I want you to stop guessing what's going on, and I want you to understand the brains underneath all of these concepts. So dive into the other content here. So let's get back to the question we ended with. What if reducing cravings isn't the same as rewiring the brain, then what is the actual difference? I think the answer begins with recognizing that we've been looking at these behaviors as though they're completely separate issues or problems. We talk about alcohol or pornography or compulsive eating, nicotine, gambling, sports betting, compulsive shopping, even doordash even Amazon overnight, or be here by 10pm as if they're all different challenges or disorders. And on the surface, they feel completely different. The behaviors that we see, they are different, but the consequences of they might be different too. But when we look at all these different branches on the same tree, we realize maybe they have the same roots. What if all of these behaviors are tapping into the very same circuitry in the reward system? Because if that's true, then this research study is not about weight loss medication anymore. It's telling us something much bigger, epiphenomenal about how the brain works. One of the biggest misconceptions I hear all the time is that dopamine is the brain's chemical for pleasure. Now, that's a great sound bite, but it misses the point, because dopamine is much more than that. Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that's much more interested in teaching your brain. Every single time that something feels exciting, rewarding, or important to you, your brain makes a quiet but important note of it. This is what it says that mattered. Remember that thing? Go back there again. That's why the reward system is so powerful. It's constantly shaping what your brain will pursue next. Once you understand that tidbit, then the way that we live our modern life, it starts to look very different. So let's pivot for a second and think about the environment that we're all living in today. It's changed. We have endless scrolling, streaming, gaming, online shopping, food delivered right to your doorstep, sports betting all the time on our phones. An unlimited novelty available 24 7. Never in human history has the reward system been exposed to, to this much stimulation. Every single one of those experiences is competing for your attention, because attention has become one of the most valuable commodities in the world. So here's the question that I keep coming back to. Do you really think the brain experiences that environment every single day and doesn't change? Of course it changes. That's what healthy brains do. They adapt. And honestly, I think that's one of the most hopeful ideas in all of neuroscience. It's called neuroplasticity. The brain isn't adapting because you're weak. It's adapting because it's exactly what it's supposed to do. It's designed from an evolutionary perspective to do that. Every repeated experience teaches it something. Every habit strengthens a pathway. Every time you return to the same source of a reward, especially a high reward, the brain becomes a little bit more efficient at finding it again. Most people will Call that a lack of willpower. I call it learning. And those are two very different conversations. That's why this research caught my attention. It suggests that maybe these behaviors aren't as separate as once were believed. Maybe they're different expressions of the same reward system looking for relief. It's looking for novelty stimulation, or it's looking for artificial regulation. And if that's true, then quieting the reward system could reduce cravings across many different behaviors. Honestly, that's a remarkable idea. But here's where I think almost everybody is missing the point. Even if a medication makes the craving quieter, what happens to everything the brain has already learned? Because I don't think those years of learning and adapting simply disappear. I know they don't. And that's the question I couldn't stop thinking about. Not whether the medication works at subduing cravings, but what happens next. Because I think that's where the real story begins. That's where I think the conversation becomes really, truly interesting. Okay, so let's imagine that these medications become incredibly effective at reducing cravings. Honestly, I hope they do. Imagine how many people could finally experience relief after years of feeling like they were fighting their own brains every single day. Imagine waking up one morning and realizing that the constant pull isn't there anymore. That would be an incredible gift. And I sincerely hope that more people get to experience that kind of reward relief in a permanent fashion. But here's the question I couldn't stop asking myself. Once that craving gets a little bit quieter, who teaches the brain what to want next? Because I think that's the part we've been missing. You see, creating space isn't the same as creating change. Space gives you the opportunity, but what you do with that opportunity is what determines when. Whether your brain actually changes or not. If you've spent years teaching your reward system that stimulation is where relief comes from, simply turning down the volume doesn't automatically teach your brain where to find the reward. Instead. That's why I don't think reducing cravings and rewiring the brain are the same thing at all. One creates the opportunity, the other one creates lasting transformation. So I've created a new program. It is called Desire Miswire. And this is exactly where this idea came from. From years of sitting across from people saying, Dr. Trish, I think I've lost my desire. But after looking at thousands of brain maps and hearing equal or more stories, I realized I didn't believe that desire had disappeared at all. My belief is that desire had simply been redirected in the wrong direction. Because your reward system naturally began investing in whatever it repeatedly experienced as rewarding, doesn't wake up one day and decide to work against you. It simply becomes very efficient at the patterns that it's practiced the most over a long amount of time, and especially at this high reward level. That's what healthy brains do. And especially when supernormal stimuli are involved, the brain becomes unhealthy and pursues at higher levels. So this is what gives me so much hope, is that your brain truly can learn healthier patterns through the gift of neuroplasticity. It doesn't change overnight when you're really rewiring your brain, but the change is possible. Every single healthy choice, every moment, every real connection, every intimacy that feels good to you in the real world. That's when your brain changes every time you tolerate discomfort and you don't immediately have to escape it. Little by little, your reward system begins rediscovering what meaning and purpose and relationships, movement, creativity, and real life becomes rewarding again. And that's not just wishful thinking. That's how learning works. That's how adaptation will move your brain in one direction or the other. I have seen this in thousands of brain maps. I don't guess what a person's brain is doing. I measure it with eeg. One person may be driven by chronic stress, another by attention disregulation, Another by anxiety or overstimulation of the reward system. People's brains perform differently from each other. The behavior might look the same on the outside, but the brain that's driving it underneath, they don't look the same. And if we only treat behavior, we miss that person and that person's brain. When we understand what's going on in your brain, then you can get a personalized path to actually move forward. One of my favorite moments with clients happens when we review their brain map together. Almost every time, they lean back, smile, and say the same three words. So that's why those words never get old, because that's a moment that shame and hopelessness give way to understanding. Instead of believing that they're weak, people finally understand what their brains have been practicing. It lights up on the page. Once you understand what your brain has learned through conditioning, you can begin teaching it and conditioning it, training it to crave or to desire something better, something healthier for you. Okay, so if today's podcast conversation has stimulated your synapses, I would love for you to go over to Dr. Trishleigh.com it's fully, well, partially redesigned because I wanted to give you more information. The reason? It's partially designed. It's going to be fully designed in four months, so you can look forward to that. But you can go over and check out the Desire Rewire programs that I'm now offering. Because meaningful change doesn't begin with trying harder. It begins with a formula of understanding and using advanced technology to assist in rewiring your brain. So if one idea can give you hope and stay with you long after you've forgotten the name of the weight loss medication, it's that research is not always exciting because of what it finds. Another medication. Sometimes it's truly invigorating because it accidentally reminds you where you should have been looking all along at your brain. For decades, we've argued or contended that addiction was simply a process or not having enough willpower or character or self control. But then professionals shifted toward talking about behaviors. How do we stop the behaviors? The drinking, the pornography consumption, the overeating. But now, finally, it's shifted into thinking about what. What is going on in the reward system in a person's brain. We realize that when it's subdued, that helps a person be able to overcome cravings. But I want you to know that you can truly rewire your brain from the miswiring that has happened, from the constant overstimulation for long term relief that doesn't require a medication. You want to know more about that? Go over to drtrishlead.com, drop in the comments, what your experience has been with different medications, and if you know about neuromodulation technology to rewire your brain with you. That is what makes this research remarkable. So go on over. And remember, control your brain or it will control you. I'll see you next time.