YES!! I totally agree. I always hear people talking about "increasing their dopamine" as if it's going to make them feel better. I think it moreso has to do with the mechanisms and actions that are happening in the brain and the brain as a whole, and where these actions are taking place, and not necessarily "well I have more dopamine so i feel better".
Taking L-Dopa w/carbidopa makes me feel WEIRD.
And also, Amphetamine-salts/ Methylphenidate/ Pemoline / Phentermine/ even Ephedrine HCl work through Dopamine neurotransmitter, but in the long term, they actually deplete Dopamine level in the brain........ but even so, some people still get the benefit from, say an ADHD med Adderall even it is used for years. ( Nicotine also affects Dopamine level in the brain, it actually releases catecholamines making the level of those neurotransmitter depleted.) But smokers always get the pleasure feeling from it.
I see that there is still too much theory about this. eg. at the moment I've been taking Avanza ( Mirtazapine) for 3 yrs, Wikipedia states that it is a nootropic because it increases Dopamine level in the brain in the Synaptic cleft, releases Noradrenaline from Synapses and blocks certain types of Serotonin in the post-synaptic clefts. -> this is stated in MIMS ANNUAL 2009.
Well, with current medical technology, we still cannot measure how much Dopamine ( or other neurotransmitters) are actually available in the brain. But through my experience (maybe others who use Mirtazapine), I cannot feel its nootropic effect, instead, it blunts my memory ( but it is a good antidepressant, as it lacks anticholinergic effect and does not cause nausea nor sexual dysfunction, unlike SSRI's/SNRI's, and it is a good sedative and antinauseant as well as antipruritus).
From this little info., I can see that Dopamine is the neurotransmitter responsible for pleasure feeling/ movements, but the mechanism of the drugs that works through Dopamine pathway is the most important thing that decides whether it is categorised as nootropic or "dirty mood brighteners",as stated in www.biopsychiatry.com under The Good Drug Guide.
