Genuine play involves focus and seriousness, supported by epinephrine, dopamine, and endogenous opioids, facilitated by low-stakes environments.

“We also have to have low amounts of adrenaline, so called epinephrine in our brain in body. [...] And the title of this paper is; "In Search of the Neurobiological Substrates for Social Playfulness in Mammalian Brains." And it's a quite extensive review, but it basically boils down to some key findings whereby, any sorts of drugs or behaviors or scenarios that increase levels of adrenaline too much, will tend to inhibit play and drugs and scenarios and I'm not suggesting recreational drugs here, but these were experiments that were done in the laboratory setting that increase the endogenous opioid output will tend to increase playfulness.”

“It's really about exploring contingencies with truly low stakes. That's what will allow you to access these neurochemical combinations of elevated indogenous opioids, low epinephrine, etc. that will open up neuroplasticity.”