Dopamine News and Research

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Dopamine is a hormone and neurotransmitter occurring in a wide variety of animals, including both vertebrates and invertebrates. In the brain, this phenethylamine functions as a neurotransmitter, activating the five types of dopamine receptors — D1, D2, D3, D4 and D5, and their variants. Dopamine is produced in several areas of the brain, including the substantia nigra and the ventral tegmental area. Dopamine is also a neurohormone released by the hypothalamus. Its main function as a hormone is to inhibit the release of prolactin from the anterior lobe of the pituitary. Dopamine has many functions in the brain, including important roles in behavior and cognition, motor activity, motivation and reward, inhibition of prolactin production (involved in lactation), sleep, mood, attention, and learning. Dopaminergic neurons (i.e., neurons whose primary neurotransmitter is dopamine) are present chiefly in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the midbrain, substantia nigra pars compacta, and arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus.

Coffee and appetite: an interview with Matt Schubert and Associate Professor Ben Desbrow, Griffith University

We wanted to do something a bit different than the “typical” work on caffeine and exercise, and I have considerable interest in appetite regulation, so we built up from there.

15 Jul 2013

Seven scientists to receive Annual Klerman and Freedman Prizes from Brain & Behavior Research Foundation

Seven young scientists will be recognized by the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation at its presentation of the Annual Klerman and Freedman Prizes on Friday July 26, 2013 at Le Parker Meriden Hotel, New York, NY.

12 Jul 2013

Auspex enrolls first patient in SD-809 Phase 3 trial for treatment of chorea associated with HD

Auspex Pharmaceuticals announced today that the first patient has been enrolled in a multi-center Phase 3 pivotal trial of its lead investigational drug, SD-809 for the treatment of involuntary movements (chorea) associated with Huntington's Disease.

12 Jul 2013

MDPV stimulant effects could be more addictive than methamphetamine, say TSRI researchers

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have published one of the first laboratory studies of MDPV, an emerging recreational drug that has been sold as “bath salts.”

11 Jul 2013

Researchers confirm that bath salts could be more addictive than methamphetamine

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have published one of the first laboratory studies of MDPV, an emerging recreational drug that has been sold as "bath salts." The TSRI researchers confirmed the drug's powerful stimulant effects in rats and found evidence that it could be more addictive than methamphetamine, one of the most addictive substances to date.

11 Jul 2013

UNMC conducts clinical trial on Leukine to test unique immune therapy in people with Parkinson's

The Nebraska Neuroscience Alliance at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, is embarking on a translational clinical trial using Leukine, a drug used to boost the immune system in cancer patients, to test a unique immune therapy in people with Parkinson's disease.

11 Jul 2013

Molecularly imprinted polymer receptors for nicotine recognition in biological systems

Researchers from the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute in Nehru Marg, India have added another piece to the puzzle of how to synthetize an artificial nicotine receptor.

10 Jul 2013

Study finds that long-term cannabis use affects motivation

Long-term cannabis users tend to produce less dopamine, a chemical in the brain linked to motivation, a study has found.

2 Jul 2013

Cannabis users appear to lack motivation

Researchers found that dopamine levels in a part of the brain called the striatum were lower in people who smoke more cannabis and those who began taking the drug at a younger age.

2 Jul 2013

Researchers find new treatment option for schizophrenia

A research group led by professor Jesper Ekelund showed that by giving a very large dose of famotidine (200 mg daily), sufficient amounts of the drug are able to penetrate the so-called blood-brain barrier to affect the histamine system in the brain.

1 Jul 2013

Study: Pluripotent stem cell line-derived neurons survive and respond to cues in the primate brain

A team of researchers from Rush University, Yale University, the University of Colorado and the St. Kitts Biomedical Research Foundation transplanted human embryonic stem cells into primate laboratory animals modeled with Parkinson's disease and found "robust survival" of the cells after six weeks and indications that the cells were "well integrated" into the host animals.

29 Jun 2013

Ritalin helps improve brain function in cocaine addiction

A single dose of a commonly-prescribed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder drug helps improve brain function in cocaine addiction, according to an imaging study conducted by researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

28 Jun 2013

Eisai submits BELVIQ NDS with Health Canada

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that Eisai Limited (based in Mississauga, Ontario), a subsidiary of Eisai Inc., has submitted a New Drug Submission for BELVIQ (lorcaserin HCl) with Health Canada.

26 Jun 2013

Safinamide improves responder rates in fluctuating Parkinson's patients in Phase III study

Newron Pharmaceuticals S.p.A. ("Newron"), a research and development company focused on novel CNS and pain therapies, and its partner Zambon S.p.A., a pharmaceutical company strongly committed to the respiratory, primary care and CNS therapeutic areas, presented results from SETTLE Phase III study with safinamide at the 17th International Congress of Parkinson's disease and Movement Disorders, taking place from June 16 to 20, 2013, at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Sydney, Australia.

19 Jun 2013

Teva to present abstracts on AZILECT at MDS meeting

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced today that a number of abstracts will be presented during the 17th Annual International Congress of Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders in Sydney, Australia, June 16-20, 2013, also known as the Movement Disorders Society.

15 Jun 2013

Researchers identify genetic variants that can predispose children to dyslexia, language impairment

A new study of the genetic origins of dyslexia and other learning disabilities could allow for earlier diagnoses and more successful interventions, according to researchers at Yale School of Medicine. Many students now are not diagnosed until high school, at which point treatments are less effective.

14 Jun 2013

Johns Hopkins expert in brain imaging receives 2013 Paul C. Aebersold Award

A Johns Hopkins expert in brain imaging, Dean F. Wong, M.D., Ph.D., has been honored with the prestigious 2013 Paul C. Aebersold Award for his contributions over the past 30 years in applying basic science to the field of nuclear medicine.

11 Jun 2013

Sugar ingestion associated with low dopamine release in patients with insulin resistance

Using positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of the brain, researchers have identified a sweet spot that operates in a disorderly way when simple sugars are introduced to people with insulin resistance, a precursor to type 2 diabetes.

11 Jun 2013

Dog-interaction activities improve mood among teenagers living in treatment centers

Lindsay Ellsworth is prescribing a new, mood-boosting therapy for teenagers in drug and alcohol treatment: shelter dogs. On Friday afternoons, about four dogs from the Spokane Humane Society take a field trip to Excelsior Youth Center as a group of teenage boys eagerly await their arrival. Ellsworth, a doctoral candidate in animal sciences at Washington State University, organizes the meet-ups where participants can help brush, feed and play with the dogs.

4 Jun 2013

NeuroDerm receives MJFF grant to develop ND0612 for treatment of Parkinson's disease

NeuroDerm, Ltd. was informed today that it was awarded, for the second time, a grant of $1M by The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research to support the clinical development of its subcutaneously delivered drug for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

3 Jun 2013

Dopamine News and Research

Further Reading

Coffee and appetite: an interview with Matt Schubert and Associate Professor Ben Desbrow, Griffith University

Seven scientists to receive Annual Klerman and Freedman Prizes from Brain & Behavior Research Foundation

Auspex enrolls first patient in SD-809 Phase 3 trial for treatment of chorea associated with HD

MDPV stimulant effects could be more addictive than methamphetamine, say TSRI researchers

Researchers confirm that bath salts could be more addictive than methamphetamine

UNMC conducts clinical trial on Leukine to test unique immune therapy in people with Parkinson's

Molecularly imprinted polymer receptors for nicotine recognition in biological systems

Study finds that long-term cannabis use affects motivation

Cannabis users appear to lack motivation

Researchers find new treatment option for schizophrenia

Study: Pluripotent stem cell line-derived neurons survive and respond to cues in the primate brain

Ritalin helps improve brain function in cocaine addiction

Eisai submits BELVIQ NDS with Health Canada

Safinamide improves responder rates in fluctuating Parkinson's patients in Phase III study

Teva to present abstracts on AZILECT at MDS meeting

Researchers identify genetic variants that can predispose children to dyslexia, language impairment

Johns Hopkins expert in brain imaging receives 2013 Paul C. Aebersold Award

Sugar ingestion associated with low dopamine release in patients with insulin resistance

Dog-interaction activities improve mood among teenagers living in treatment centers

NeuroDerm receives MJFF grant to develop ND0612 for treatment of Parkinson's disease

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