Role of Serotonin in Children's Impulse Control and 3 Ways to Boost Serotonin

Patience is often seen as a crucial component of children’s development in the early years of life, given its important applications across different contexts like school, friendship, and home life (1). Frequently tied into this skillset are abilities like being able to regulate big feelings, deny an immediate reward for a potentially better one down the line, as well as manage various impulses that may come up when having to wait (1,2). 

Beyond the social-emotional and behavioral components of patience, it is also important to think about the neurological foundations of this value. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that acts as a signal to various parts of the brain, and is often linked with important parts of our cognition such as our memory, our ability to control our mood, and our management of sleep-cycles, among other functions (3,4). Healthy levels of serotonin in the brain often can be linked with positive outcomes around learning and reactivity to stressful events (4). Serotonin also can play an incredibly valuable role in the expression of children’s patience and their ability to manage their emotions and behaviors around waiting (3,5).

While the parts of the brain that receive serotonin and allow for children to demonstrate patient behaviors do tend to mature throughout the early years of development, there are a variety of ways to help children’s serotonin levels and, therefore, potentially benefit how they interact with patience in their daily lives (4,6,7). For example:

1. Celebrate in Sunshine!

There are an immense number of benefits to spending time in the sunshine! (8,9).  For serotonin specifically, research has noted that bright light, such as sunlight in the summertime, has been linked with higher levels of serotonin in the brains of adults (9-10). Thus, taking your child on a walk around a local park, giving them time to play outside, or other ways your child can be exposed to sunshine during the day may not only benefit their overall health and mood, but it may also lead to decreases in impulsivity when having to wait and remain patient.

2. Get Active and Exercise!

Exercising regularly has often been shown to yield positive effects for the health and moods of both children and adults (9,11,12). And studies have shown that participation in exercise has yielded positive effects on serotonin levels both during and after exercise (9,13). Increases in serotonin may not result from the potential increase of mood that comes from completing exercise, but rather from the physical activity itself (9). Give your child regular opportunities to run around and engage in various games that require physical activity. Depending on the age of your child, you can even give them appropriate exercises to do, like an obstacle course, yoga, or going on a run together. All of these types of activities can provide a great way to increase serotonin levels and, therefore, increase the likelihood of your little one demonstrating patient behaviors.

3. Food for Thought!

Tryptophan, a specific type of amino acid molecule that can be found in various foods, has been known to help with various mood disorders, including some forms of depression (9,14).  Likewise, whey protein, which contains a high amount of tryptophan, has been suggested to increase serotonin levels and potentially improve cognition (15). Although the research is still developing on this topic, it is possible that incorporating foods and drinks high in tryptophan, such as turkey, chicken, and whole milk, could be a potential way to aid children’s serotonin levels and, therefore, potentially improve their ability to manage behaviors during periods of impatience (9,16).

Overall, the process of neurotransmitters, like serotonin, being released from nerve cells in the brain, or neurons, to travel to various parts of the brain for activating  different responses, such as expressing emotions and/or engaging in specific behaviors, is critical across a wide variety of behaviors and skills (17). And, within the context of situations that require patience, different neurotransmitters may be released that can lead to various emotions bubbling up in the brain (17,18). Serotonin, therefore, can be viewed as helping manage those impulsive feelings for the sake of a more appropriate response in children’s  behavior (3,4,).

Research Represented:

1. Barragan-Jason, G., Atance, C., Kopp, L., & Hopfensitz, A. (2018). Two facets of patience in young children: Waiting with and without an explicit reward. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 171, 14-30. 

2. Fuster, D., Scholar, M., & Tan, P. Z. (2009). The relation between executive functioning and emotion regulation in young children. The Penn State McNair Journal, 15, 35-53.

3. Miyazaki, K., Miyazaki, K. W., & Doya, K. (2012). The role of serotonin in the regulation of patience and impulsivity. Molecular Neurobiology, 45, 213-224.

4. Brummelte, S., Mc Glanaghy, E., Bonnin, A., & Oberlander, T. F. (2017). Developmental changes in serotonin signaling: Implications for early brain function, behavior and adaptation. Neuroscience, 342, 212-231.

5. Runions, K. C., Morandini, H. A., Rao, P., Wong, J. W., Kolla, N. J., Pace, G., ... & Zepf, F. D. (2019). Serotonin and aggressive behaviour in children and adolescents: a systematic review. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 139(2), 117-144.

6. Steinberg, L., Albert, D., Cauffman, E., Banich, M., Graham, S., & Woolard, J. (2008). Age differences in sensation seeking and impulsivity as indexed by behavior and self-report: evidence for a dual systems model. Developmental Psychology, 44(6), 1764-1778.

7. Booij, L., Tremblay, R. E., Szyf, M., & Benkelfat, C. (2015). Genetic and early environmental influences on the serotonin system: consequences for brain development and risk for psychopathology. Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, 40(1), 5-18.

8. Mason, R. S., Sequeira, V. B., & Gordon-Thomson, C. (2011). Vitamin D: the light side of sunshine. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 65(9), 986-993.

9. Young, S. N. (2007). How to increase serotonin in the human brain without drugs. Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience, 32(6), 394-399.

10. Lambert, G. W., Reid, C., Kaye, D. M., Jennings, G. L., & Esler, M. D. (2002). Effect of sunlight and season on serotonin turnover in the brain. The Lancet, 360(9348), 1840-1842.

11. aan het Rot, M., Benkelfat, C., Boivin, D. B., & Young, S. N. (2008). Bright light exposure during acute tryptophan depletion prevents a lowering of mood in mildly seasonal women. European Neuropsychopharmacology, 18(1), 14-23.

12. Salmon, P. (2001). Effects of physical exercise on anxiety, depression, and sensitivity to stress: a unifying theory. Clinical Psychology Review, 21(1), 33-61.

13. Li, J., Huang, Z., Si, W., & Shao, T. (2022). The effects of physical activity on positive emotions in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(21), 14185.

14. Davis, J. M., Alderson, N. L., & Welsh, R. S. (2000). Serotonin and central nervous system fatigue: nutritional considerations. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 72(2), 573S-578S.

15. Thomson, J., Rankin, H., Ashcroft, G. W., Yates, C. M., McQueen, J. K., & Cummings, S. W. (1982). The treatment of depression in general practice: a comparison of L-tryptophan, amitriptyline, and a combination of L-tryptophan and amitriptyline with placebo. Psychological Medicine, 12(4), 741-751.

16. Markus, C. R., Olivier, B., & de Haan, E. H. (2002). Whey protein rich in α-lactalbumin increases the ratio of plasma tryptophan to the sum of the other large neutral amino acids and improves cognitive performance in stress-vulnerable subjects. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 75(6), 1051-1056.

17. Herlenius, E., & Lagercrantz, H. (2004). Development of neurotransmitter systems during critical periods. Experimental Neurology, 190, 8-21.

18. Lövheim, H. (2012). A new three-dimensional model for emotions and monoamine neurotransmitters. Medical Hypotheses, 78(2), 341-348.