Today’s episode is about exactly what the title says: our brains… on plants, and what happens in our brains when we become plant people. When I was starting to move from plant killer to crazy plant lady, I noticed there were a few months at the beginning of my plant collection where I felt like the love for plants kind of took over my life. I was constantly buying new plants, going to plant shops, and researching plants on the internet. I was having so much fun with this new hobby, but for a moment, it felt like I couldn’t stop. Billy had to have a little intervention with me to slow me down and make sure we had the space and knowledge of the plants we already had. With his help (or maybe insistence), I put myself on a plant pause, which helped snap me out of that obsessive moment. But I’ve always thought about that particular phase in my life when I couldn’t stop.

Enter Dr. Caitlin Vander Weele, the answer to my “plant-iest” and “expert-iest” of dreams. Caitlin is not only an awesome listener of Growing Joy but also a neuroscientist and author with over 10 years of expertise in understanding how emotions and brain chemistry influence decision-making. She is also the founder of Interstellate, a movement that blends science and art with visual imagery to promote science education. Caitlin is really, really smart. And she is also a crazy plant lady, and this conversation blew my mind.

• How Caitlin became a crazy plant lady
• Maria gets real with Caitlin and explains the addictive behaviors she experienced early into plant parenthood.
• Caitlin breaks down what exactly was happening in Maria’s brain in those first few months of buying as many plants as possible
• What causes our brain to release dopamine and what it is
• What compulsive behavior is
• What our brain on dopamine does
• What neurotransmitters, synapses and receptors are
• The difference between endorphins and dopamine
• Why we feel bonded to our plants: enter oxytocin
• How these things are measured in our brains
• 4 phases of compulsive behaviors to look out for
• How to cope with compulsive urges when growing your urban jungle

Check out the full show notes and blog to learn how your brain responds to plant care!

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