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.

Why some succumb to stress - new brain mechanism identified

Results of a new study may one day help scientists learn how to enhance a naturally occurring mechanism in the brain that promotes resilience to psychological stress.

19 Oct 2007

Mice offer clues to the roots of human resilience

When faced with adversity, some people succumb to debilitating psychological diseases including posttraumatic stress disorder and depression, while others are able to remain remarkably optimistic.

19 Oct 2007

Study looks at sepsis and purpura in children

While survival rates for sepsis have increased over the past two decades, children under four and those in adolescence remain highly susceptible to the condition.

18 Oct 2007

Insulin levels affect the brain's dopamine systems

Insulin, long known as an important regulator of blood glucose levels, now has a newly appreciated role in the brain.

18 Oct 2007

Insulin signaling and amphetamines

Abuse of psychostimulants such as amphetamine remains a serious public health concern.

17 Oct 2007

People with lower dopamine levels eat more

Science has found one likely contributor to the way that some folks eat to live and others live to eat.

15 Oct 2007

Dopamine levels and appetite

Science has found one likely contributor to the way that some folks eat to live and others live to eat.

15 Oct 2007

The highs and lows of drug cravings

The anticipation of a cocaine fix and the actual craving to abuse the drug are two closely related phenomena, according to new evidence published in the online open access journal Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy.

11 Oct 2007

Genetics and learning

New research is giving scientists fresh insights into how genetics are a prime factor in how we learn.

2 Oct 2007

Vanda Pharmaceuticals submits iloperidone NDA

Vanda Pharmaceuticals has announced that it has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for iloperidone, an investigational atypical antipsychotic for the treatment of schizophrenia.

27 Sep 2007

Stem-cell therapy opens new avenue of research against Huntington's disease

Paying close attention to how a canary learns a new song has helped scientists open a new avenue of research against Huntington's disease – a fatal disorder for which there is currently no cure or even a treatment to slow the disease.

26 Sep 2007

New nanoprobe imaging station helps study the distribution of elements in cells

Scientists suspect that iron accumulation plays a role in neurodegenerative processes such as Parkinson's disease, but its distribution in neurons has never been observed because of the lack of techniques to do so. Until today.

26 Sep 2007

Potential new treatment approach for schizophrenia

A new study reports important evidence for a potential new treatment approach for those diagnosed with schizophrenia.

25 Sep 2007

Genetic influences on addictions - new findings

Previous research has extensively studied the association of the dopamine D2 receptor gene (DRD2) with alcoholism.

25 Sep 2007

Embryonic stem cell strategy advanced with UCSF finding

UCSF scientists are reporting what they say is a significant improvement in the technique for genetically reprogramming mouse cells to their embryonic state, a process that transforms the cells, in essence, into embryonic stem cells.

12 Sep 2007

New and very different schizophrenia drug shows promise

Scientists at Eli Lilly say the first human trial of a new schizophrenia drug shows promise for sufferers of the debilitating mental illness.

3 Sep 2007

Methamphetamine use has long-term behavioral consequences

Young adults who use methamphetamine may be more vulnerable to age-related brain degeneration when they grow older, new animal research suggests.

16 Aug 2007

Variant of the dopamine receptor gene may be associated with ADHD

A variant of the dopamine receptor gene may be associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and with thinner tissue in areas of the brain that handle attention, but also appears associated with better clinical outcomes among individuals with the disorder, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of General Psychiatry , one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

7 Aug 2007

Brain areas that control attention thinnest in children with ADHD

Brain areas that control attention were thinnest in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who carried a particular version of a gene in a study by the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

7 Aug 2007

ADHD linked to depressed dopamine activity in the brain

Adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) show a blunted response to the drug methylphenidate (Ritalin), which increases brain dopamine levels, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

7 Aug 2007