Brain and mental health can feel overwhelming, like something that takes years of resilience and practice to master. But you can change how you feel by simply supporting the chemical pathways that shape your brain and drive mood, focus, energy and longevity. In this blog, we’ll dive into what these pathways are, how they affect your brain, and how you can keep them in balance.
What exactly is a chemical pathway? Your brain as a highway of chemicals.
A biochemical or metabolic pathway is a chain reaction that occur within a cell, where one chemical triggers another, which triggers another until you get a result, like feeling calm, focused, or stressed. These pathways are the hidden drivers of brain health and mental health.
There are hundreds of these pathways all throughout the human body, each responsible for a specific outcome. They are triggered by a signal. This can be a signal within the body like a thought, a hormone release, or a change in blood sugar. Or, an external signal like light, the food you consume (nutrients kick-off metabolic pathways), or stress.
Pathways can involve singular or multiple chemicals from signal to outcome.
Meet dopamine, serotonin, cortisol; what chemical pathways impact our brain?
Dopamine Pathway
How it works:
Dopamine is released by neurons in the brain. It binds to dopamine receptors in areas like the prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens, triggering motivation and reward responses.
Outcomes:
Motivation, drive, and focus
Pleasure and reward (feeling good)
Supports habit formation and learning
Healthy state:
Dopamine works best in balance. Low dopamine leads to low motivation and focus, while chronically high dopamine (from constant stimulation) can cause burnout or even addictive behaviours. This is what you've been hearing so much about.
Serotonin Pathway
How it works:
Serotonin is produced primarily in the gut (about 90%) and also in the brain. It travels along pathways where it binds to serotonin receptors, regulating signals that affect mood and emotion.
Outcomes:
Mood stability and overall sense of wellbeing
Helps regulate sleep and appetite
Imbalances are linked to depression and anxiety
Healthy state:
Balanced serotonin is key. Too little is linked to low mood and anxiety, too much can cause agitation. Stability matters here.
Acetylcholine Pathway
How it works:
Acetylcholine is released by neurons in the basal forebrain and brainstem. It binds to receptors that enhance signal transmission between neurons, sharpening attention and learning speed.
Outcomes:
Focus and sustained attention
Learning and adaptability
Short-term memory recall
Healthy state:
Adequate acetylcholine supports focus and memory. Deficiency is linked to memory loss and cognitive decline, but overstimulation can cause brain fog or fatigue.
Glutamate Pathway
How it works:
Glutamate is the brain’s primary excitatory neurotransmitter. It activates NMDA and AMPA receptors, strengthening the connections between neurons (synaptic plasticity).
Outcomes:
Learning and memory formation
Brain plasticity (the brain's ability to adapt)
Imbalances can lead to neurotoxicity or memory decline
Healthy state:
Glutamate should be carefully regulated. It drives learning and memory, but too much overexcites neurons and can damage them.
BDNF Pathway (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor)
How it works:
BDNF is a protein, not a classic neurotransmitter, but it acts like a “fertiliser” for the brain. It supports the survival of neurons and stimulates the growth of new connections (synapses).
Outcomes:
Long-term neuroprotection
Supports learning and memory retention
Protects against age-related cognitive decline and neurodegeneration
Healthy state:
Higher BDNF is what you're looking for, supporting neuroplasticity, resilience, and long-term brain health. Low BDNF is associated with depression and neurodegenerative disease.
Cortisol Pathway (HPA Axis – Stress Response)
How it works:
When you face stress, the hypothalamus in the brain signals the pituitary gland, which tells the adrenal glands to release cortisol. Cortisol prepares the body and brain for “fight or flight” by mobilising energy and sharpening alertness.
Outcomes:
Short-term: boosts focus and energy, heightens awareness
Chronic: disrupts mood, weakens memory, impairs immunity, accelerates brain aging
Healthy state:
Cortisol should rise and fall with a daily rhythm. It’s higher in the morning to wake you up, and lower at night to help you sleep. Chronic high cortisol (from constant stress, poor sleep, stimulants) keeps the body in overdrive and harms brain health.
Stress, screens, sleep: How modern life scrambles our chemistry.
Modern life puts these pathways under pressures they weren’t built for. Cortisol, for example, evolved to handle short bursts of danger — running from predators, not back-to-back emails. Dopamine was designed to reward survival behaviours like finding food, but today it’s hijacked by infinite scrolling and notifications. Even serotonin and acetylcholine, which rely on light, sleep, and movement, are disrupted by screen time, artificial lighting, and sedentary routines. This is what scientists call mismatch theory: our brains and bodies evolved for a very different environment than the one we live in now. The result is chemistry that’s constantly out of sync — pathways firing too much, too little, or at the wrong times.
From mental health to neuroprotection: How to support your chemical pathways.
Finding balance in your pathways is about supporting both how you feel today and how your brain ages. The steps are simple, but powerful:
Prioritise sleep and morning light: Serotonin and cortisol rely on natural rhythms. Aim for morning light exposure and consistent sleep (same bedtime and wake up) to reset these pathways.
Move: Exercise is one of the most powerful ways to boost dopamine, serotonin, and BDNF, strengthening mood, focus, and long-term protection.
Train your mind: Learning new skills and practicing mindfulness activates acetylcholine and glutamate pathways, sharpening memory and cognition.
Brain health nutrition: Key nutrients for brain health: omega-3s, antioxidants, adaptogens, and polyphenols, all play direct roles in supporting chemical pathways like dopamine, serotonin, glutamate, and BDNF.
This is exactly why we designed the formula behind Matterial: to support these core pathways with compounds at proven doses, helping you protect your brain and improve how you feel, think, and perform every day.
Let's Wrap This Up: TLDR
Your brain runs on chemistry and it's our chemical pathways that are behind the scenes impacting how we feel, think and act. Serotonin, dopamine, acetylcholine, glutamate, BDNF, and cortisol each shape how you feel, think, and protect your mind for the future. Modern life pushes these pathways out of balance, creating a mismatch between what we evolved for and how we live now.
Supporting your brain pathways through sleep, movement and the right nutrition is the most direct way to improve brain health, from mental health and cognition to memory and longevity.
It all starts with a chemical.
