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TONIC AND PHASIC DOPAMINE with the raw materials they need to regulate the With proper
In order to begin exploring the relationship process properly. balance we
between methylation, dopamine and mental
health, we must first understand the difference MENTAL STABILITY AND FLEXIBILITY become
between tonic and phasic dopamine. As shown Two analogies should prove useful to help masters of our
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in Figure 2, tonic dopamine is the modest amount us understand the need to balance mental stabil- thoughts
of dopamine that has a constant presence in our ity with mental flexibility. In the first, we could
brain. It is like a stable body of water, and is imagine a potter who makes clay flexible by rather than
important for mental stability. Phasic dopamine moistening it before attempting to make some- their captives.
is like a wave that comes crashing in, making an thing out of it. Too little moisture will lead to
appearance for only fractions of a second, and brittle clay: it is too dry to shape into anything,
is important for mental flexibility. Methylation and applying enough force to change its shape
regulates tonic dopamine, while our brains have will simply make it break, exposing rough and
other ways of regulating phasic dopamine. sharp edges. Too much moisture will make it easy
Nevertheless, as shown in Figure 3, our to manipulate, but no shape given to it will hold.
brains judge the size of the phasic dopamine The right amount of moisture will make the clay
“wave” by how high it stands above the back- malleable enough to manipulate into something
ground of tonic dopamine. A higher level of useful or beautiful, and yet stable enough to
tonic dopamine makes the “wave” of phasic retain the shape given it.
dopamine look a lot smaller, and our brains re- Similarly, not enough methylation could
act to it accordingly. Thus, as shown in Figure lead to “brittle” mental states. Such states are
4, methylation regulates the balance between difficult to change, but when they do change, the
mental stability and mental flexibility: too much transitions are sudden and without warning. This
methylation will favor too much flexibility, not brittleness could lead to dangerous situations. For
enough methylation will favor too much stability, example, ordinarily when we get angry, the pro-
and the level of methylation that is just right will cess is gradual enough that we may realize what
provide the appropriate balance between the two. is happening to us and stop ourselves from acting
Thus, our goal is not to increase methylation or out in our anger, or someone else may notice that
decrease methylation, but to provide our brains we are becoming angry and intervene to diffuse

FIGURE 3: Tonic dopamine regulates the brain’s response to phasic dopamine. Our brain judges the size of the phasic
dopamine “wave” according to how high it rises above the background of tonic dopamine. A “wave” of the same size will
look larger when the level of tonic dopamine is low (A) and smaller if the level of tonic dopamine is high (B). Thus, a greater
level of tonic dopamine not only promotes mental stability, but also decreases our response to phasic dopamine, thereby
decreasing mental flexibility. Since methylation decreases the level of tonic dopamine (Figure 2), a greater degree of meth-
ylation will decrease mental stability and increase mental flexibility.
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