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Every living thing seeks happiness. Happiness is a full belly; it’s a safe place to live or to bear offspring. For some, it’s a solitary life of quiet hunting, briefly meeting to breed, then being on their way again, such as sloths and panthers. For others, it is huge colonies of the same animal, living together and raising young collectively, such as prairie dogs and termites.
Highly intelligent animals, like the Bonobo monkeys, like to sit together quietly and hug, or perform communal activities, like many of the great apes and chimpanzees.
Dolphins love to hunt together, herding fish into a tight group, using mud to simulate “nets” or walls, and then eating their fill as the fish try to jump out of the shrinking “walls. They also like to play games, such as blowing ring bubbles, chasing them around, swimming through them, and even biting them to make them pop.
Since the beginning of time, animals (including humans) have found ways of tampering with their brain chemistry to enter altered states. For example, cats inhale the vapor of nepetalactone from catnip, which appears to move directly from the nose to the “happiness center” of their brains. Interestingly, the effect lasts about 10 minutes, after which they become immune to the chemical for about 30 minutes. If they eat catnip, it instead relaxes them, causing drowsiness.
Dogs have been known to pick up (without eating or killing them) Bufo alvarius toads and carry them around briefly in their mouths. These toads have defensive venom in smaller quantities, a mind-altering chemical called 5-MeO-DMT. However, if the dog were to eat the toad successfully, it would likely kill them in about 15 minutes.
Bees eat fermented orchid nectar; goats like to eat psilocybin mushrooms; rats eat opium; birds eat marijuana seeds; elephants have been known to raid Indian Breweries to obtain beer. And, of course, humans consume alcohol and assorted drug. All these chemicals artificially turn on the Happiness Center of the brain.
We have known for quite some time our brains release “reward chemicals”. However, we are just now learning that this is a survival mechanism. The brain rewards creatures when they perform activities likely to increase the species’ survival.
Experiments based on murine models (mice/rats) show that if we artificially stimulate the brain’s reward center by teaching them to push a switch that gives pleasure, they will perform that action to the exclusion of eating, drinking, or having sex.
There are five major chemicals that human brains produce to encourage us to do survival-enhancing things; they work by making us “happy”. Here is a breakdown of said chemicals:
Serotonin is the hormone that is essential for both sleep and wakefulness. It also acts to encourage bone growth and digestion, among other things. Mentally, it moderates many of our activities and is a mood stabilizer. It is generally released during physical activities. You generally don’t need more or less of it; you need the right amount at the right time.
Serotonin also rewards accomplishments. Did you win an award, obtain a diploma, or finish a difficult task? Did your boss say “Great Job!” in front of the entire office? That happy feeling you get comes from serotonin.
We like that feeling, so we grow our influence to experience it more often. Indeed, it works on the people that follow you, too. They want to “subscribe”, give a “thumbs up”, donate, or support you because it also makes them experience a serotonin flush.
Melatonin is a derivative of serotonin produced in the tiny pineal gland in our brains and within our eyes. Its production is enhanced when we experience darkness; it serves to keep our circadian rhythms on track. It slows heartbeat and respiration and relaxes us, making us happy and ready to sleep.
Its production can be stopped entirely when we experience specific frequencies of (mostly) blue light. Unfortunately, these frequencies are prevalent in LED lighting, computer screens, tablets, and smartphones. This is why we should not use such devices an hour before bedtime, so our sleep patterns remain undisturbed.
Dopamine is the “reward chemical” for completing any sized task. For example, lifting weights, finishing the laundry, hair-styling, beard-trimming, shopping, vacuuming, painting (art or walls), arriving at a destination, picking flowers, and asking someone for a date cause the release of dopamine. It’s the “do” hormone.
The problem with dopamine is that it is a short-lived chemical designed to enhance planning and accomplishing a list of tasks. It also feeds addiction to video games and other modern activities that may not be pro-survival. It helps us form habits—good or bad!
Endorphins are the body’s painkillers. They are released when we undertake physical activities—especially hard ones that might hurt—but will ultimately aid survival. They are also released when we have a good belly laugh. Unfortunately, those people with a good sense of humor often have a higher pain threshold to accompany it.
Finally, there is Oxytocin, often called “the love hormone” or the “hug drug”. Our brains produce this in response to touching, bonding, gazing, or any prosocial activity, such as playing with babies, scratching a pet’s favorite spot, and paying or receiving a compliment.
It is similar to dopamine, but its effects are long-lasting. Someone with lots of Oxytocin will be interested in the welfare of another person—to see if they are equally happy—and we call this love. Oxytocin levels go up in the presence of the other person, but they also rise in response to thinking about the other person.
Brain Structure is a complex topic, but we can generally speak about regions. For example, the amygdala is responsible for processing information, memory, decision-making, and emotional responses. The hypothalamus controls hunger, body temperature, and more but also produces Oxytocin and sends it to the tiny pituitary gland for release.
However, it is probably more helpful to see which physical regions are responsible for each function. Many tasks are spread over broad regions, making it hard to say “this” area is responsible exclusively for “that” function. 
For example, you need the orange-thinking region before using the red-speaking region. But before that requires the planning and yellow decision-making region. Then, of course, you can’t speak without Muscle Control of breathing, vocal cords, jaw & tongue muscles provided by the green region, and the purple Pitch, Volume, and Rhythm region, and the pink Words-region.
The dark brown region for emotions seems small, but it is intertwined with memory functions. For example, the smell of apple pie may make you think of an experience from decades earlier and make you happy; hearing a favorite tune can make you remember how good you felt when you first heard it.
You don’t need to artificially alter your brain chemistry to be happy. Instead, happiness can be achieved with simple actions, activities, or choices that encourage your brain to release one or more of the “happiness chemicals”.
One surefire way is to get some physical exercise. Putting your body under stress while completing a task will help release several happiness chemicals. Need a boost of Oxytocin? Adopt a pet dog or some other companion animal. Can’t have your own? Volunteer at a pet shelter. You can also help your hormone production by getting 7-9 hours of sleep daily. Undertake activities that help the species survive and let your brain and body provide natural chemicals that induce happiness ?.
