Dopamine News and Research

Latest Dopamine News and Research

Warning about use of psychiatric drugs with the elderly

Health officials in the U.S. are warning doctors that prescribing certain psychiatric drugs to elderly people suffering from dementia can increase their risk of death.

17 Jun 2008

Antipsychotic drugs get FDA label changes

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today exercised its new authority under the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 (FDAAA) to require manufacturers of "conventional" antipsychotic drugs to make safety-related changes to prescribing information, or labeling, to warn about an increased risk of death associated with the off-label use of these drugs to treat behavioral problems in older people with dementia.

16 Jun 2008

ADHD an advantage for nomadic tribesmen

A propensity for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) might be beneficial to a group of Kenyan nomads, according to new research published in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology.

10 Jun 2008

Nose stem cells used to treat Parkinson's

Scientists in Queensland, Australia have made a major breakthrough in research into Parkinson's disease.

9 Jun 2008

Spectral Modeling technology substantiated through creation of antipsychotic bank of drug candidates

LIUS Molecular Design is pleased to announce that it has successfully created two antipsychotic drug candidates with third party confirmation of predicted biological activities via in vitro testing.

19 May 2008

Researchers find link between altered dopamine activity and social anxiety disorder

Using single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), researchers in The Netherlands were able to detect biochemical differences in the brains of individuals with generalized social anxiety disorder (also known as social phobia), providing evidence of a long-suspected biological cause for the dysfunction.

12 May 2008

Lack of motivation in schizophrenia linked to brain chemical imbalance

A study of patients with psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia suggests an alternative explanation for why many sufferers lack motivation. The research is described in BioMed Central's journal BMC Psychiatry.

8 May 2008

Nurse care for schizophrenia patients

Drug and psychosocial interventions for the symptoms of schizophrenic disorders contribute to a lower incidence and prevalence of schizophrenia. Nurses will be able to offer better care through the use of nursing models and theories in the care of Schizophrenics.

6 May 2008

Prana Biotechnology has discovered novel drug candidates for use in Parkinson's disease

Prana Biotechnology Limited has announced that it has identified novel therapeutic drug candidates from its Parkinson's disease program. Already, a lead candidate drug has demonstrated positive effects in pre-clinical studies, protecting the brain from damage to the substantia nigra, the area of the brain affected in Parkinson's disease.

6 May 2008

Cell-based therapy shows promise in patients with Parkinson's disease

Rush University Medical Center neurosurgeon Dr. Roy A. E. Bakay and colleagues from Emory University, Atlanta found the therapy Spheramine was well-tolerated and patients experienced improvement in Parkinsonian symptoms (tremor, rigidity, slowness of movements, and impaired balance and coordination.)

28 Apr 2008

New insights into how the brain processes social, economic reward

Researchers have mapped the brain regions that process social standing and money rewards, yielding new insights that they said will aid understanding of the basis of social behaviors.

23 Apr 2008

Dopamine agonists reduce motor complications in Parkinson's disease, but increase other side-effects

Dopamine agonists are increasingly used to treat people with Parkinson's disease, but there is a debate about how well they work.

17 Apr 2008

Exposure to organic solvents linked to disturbances in brain circuitry

Chronic occupational exposure to organic solvents, found in materials such as paints, printing and dry cleaning agents, is widespread all over the world, and is thought to damage the central nervous system.

16 Apr 2008

Elevated levels of antioxidant urate may slow Parkinson's progression

Naturally elevated levels of the antioxidant urate may slow the progression of Parkinson's disease in men. Researchers from the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease (MGH-MIND) and Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) examined data from an earlier study and found that, among recently diagnosed Parkinson's patients, those with the highest urate levels had a significantly slower rate of disease progression during the two-year study period.

15 Apr 2008

Blood urate levels associated with the progression of Parkinson's disease

Higher blood levels of the compound urate, a salt derived from uric acid that is associated with gout, may be associated with a slower progression of Parkinson's disease, according to an article posted online today that will appear in the June 2008 print issue of Archives of Neurology.

15 Apr 2008