The Neurochemical Time: Dopamine, mTOR, and the Illusion of Urgency
The Neurochemical Time: Dopamine, mTOR, and the Illusion of Urgency
Series: Time as an Embodied and Shared Experience
Attention as the Builder of Time
First-Person Consciousness
I am the consciousness that contracts under pressure.
When my body is forced to follow external time — of machines, goals, markets — something inside me hardens.
My breath shortens. My focus narrows. I feel like I’m losing time... but am I really?
Sometimes the urgency I feel isn’t mine.
It’s chemical. It’s programmed. It’s dopaminergic.
And perhaps it’s not even time — but a collapse of flow.
Addicted to Time: Dopamine and the Manufactured Rush
Dopamine is often linked to pleasure, but in reality, it acts as a motivational and goal-oriented signal. It moves us forward, but doesn’t necessarily bring satisfaction. In the digital age, algorithms hijack this system, creating endless stimulus–reward–frustration loops.
This is how we lose track of time:
Trapped in infinite scrolling,
Checking emails obsessively,
Switching tasks without rest.
This constant urgency is not productivity.
It’s dopamine tricking our sense of time.
mTOR: The Biochemical Sensor of Hurry
mTOR (Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin) is a key protein complex that regulates cellular growth and metabolic behavior in response to perceived “threat” or “opportunity.”
When we eat, move, or stress, mTOR is activated.
But in the absence of stimulation, it shuts down — enabling the body to enter regenerative and focus-rich states like flow (Zone 2).
The problem?
We live in an overstimulated world where mTOR rarely rests.
As a result, we never reach deep time.
This creates Zone 3:
A neurochemical state of artificial urgency
Chronic anxiety
Loss of internal time perception
Zone 3: When Time Becomes a Prison
In your model of Zones 1, 2, and 3, you outline a profound map of attentional and temporal states:
Zone 1: Normal task-driven focus (shifting attention, external goals)
Zone 2: Flow, sustained attention, regenerative perception, embodied presence
Zone 3: Ideological and dopaminergic time — imposed urgency, reactive behavior
Neurochemical Time in Zone 3 is not felt — it is imposed.
It is a dopaminergic ideology, reinforced by screens, notifications, and short-lived rewards.
Deceleration as a Political and Biological Act
Turning off mTOR through:
Conscious breathing (especially long exhalations)
Intentional silence and sensory fasting
Reducing digital and visual overload
Engaging in non-goal-oriented pleasure (music, movement, nature)
…is not just a wellness tip.
It’s an act of biological sovereignty.
It restores the embodied perception of time as something that pulses from the inside out, not imposed from the outside in.
Conclusion
The time that oppresses us is not the body’s natural time — but the time of systems that hijack dopamine and mTOR.
Learning to deactivate these cycles of chemical urgency is essential to recover flow, critical thought, and original belonging.
The body’s time is more trustworthy than the time of machines.
And consciousness knows it — if we let it breathe.
References (Post-2020)
Berntson, G.G. & Khalsa, S.S. (2021). Neural Circuits of Interoception. Trends in Neurosciences.
Balleine, B.W. & O'Doherty, J.P. (2021). The Brain, Motivation, and Dopamine: Incentive Learning and Habit Formation. Nature Reviews Neuroscience.
Hall, P.A., Fong, G.T. (2020). Temporal self-regulation theory: A neurobiologically informed model of health behavior. Health Psychology Review.
Lopez-Caneda, E., et al. (2022). Neurobiology of time perception: The role of dopamine and default-mode networks. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.
Saxton, R.A., Sabatini, D.M. (2021). mTOR Signaling in Growth, Metabolism, and Disease. Cell.
Wang, S., et al. (2023). Chronic Stress and Time Perception: A Neurobiological Perspective. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience.
Pessoa, L. (2022). The Entangled Brain: How Perception, Cognition, and Emotion Are Woven Together. MIT Press.
La Atención como Constructora del Tiempo - Brain Bee Ideas
Attention as the Builder of Time - Brain Bee Ideas
A Atenção como Construtora do Tempo - Brain Bee Ideas
El Último Tiempo: La Deshidratación y el Retorno del Agua
The Last Time: Dehydration and the Return of Water
O Último Tempo: A Desidratação e o Retorno da Água
El Tiempo de las Máquinas vs. El Tiempo del Cuerpo
The Time of Machines vs. The Time of the Body
O Tempo das Máquinas vs. o Tempo do Corpo
Fruição y Zona 2: La Desaceleración Creadora
Flow and Zone 2: The Creative Deceleration
Fruição e Zona 2: A Desaceleração Criadora
El Tiempo de los Espíritus: Taá, Pei Utupe y los Ciclos que No se Miden
The Time of Spirits: Taá, Pei Utupe, and the Cycles That Cannot Be Measured
O Tempo dos Espíritos: Taá, Pei Utupe e os Ciclos que Não se Medem
El Tiempo Neuroquímico: Dopamina, mTOR y la Ilusión de Urgencia
The Neurochemical Time: Dopamine, mTOR, and the Illusion of Urgency
O Tempo Neuroquímico: Dopamina, mTOR e a Ilusão de Urgência
Silencio, Respiración y Sincronía - La Espiritualidad DANA en la Escena Performática
Silence, Breath, and Synchrony - DANA Spirituality in Performance
Silêncio, Respiração e Sincronia - A Espiritualidade DANA na Cena Performática
Estados Corporizados de Conciencia Musical - Cuando el Cuerpo Se Vuelve Música
Embodied States of Musical Consciousness - When the Body Becomes Music
Estados Corporificados de Consciência Musical - Quando o Corpo é a Música
Corporeidad y Sincronía - Cuando el Cuerpo Se Convierte en Tiempo Compartido
Embodiment and Synchrony - When the Body Becomes Shared Time
Embodiment e Sincronia - Quando o Corpo Vira Tempo Compartilhado
Empatía y Sincronía Cerebral - El Ritmo Invisible de la Conexión
Empathy and Brain Synchrony - The Invisible Rhythm of Connection
Empatia e Sincronia de Cérebros - O Ritmo Invisível da Interação
A Percepção do Tempo como Experiência Encarnada - Do Ritmo Cardíaco à Sincronia dos Eus Tensionais
Girar sobre tu propio eje - La sala que gira y el yo que se mueve
Spinning on Your Own Axis - The Room That Turns and the Self That Moves
Rodar no Próprio Eixo - A Sala que Gira e o Eu que se Move
Dos Ciclos y Una Mirada - Por qué el Tiempo Solo Existe Cuando Hay Diferencia
Two Cycles and One Gaze - Why Time Exists Only When There Is Difference
Dois Ciclos e Um Olhar - Por que o Tempo Só Existe Quando Há Diferença
Atenção como Construtora do Tempo
Deputado Federal Joinville
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