Dopamine News and Research

Latest Dopamine News and Research

New study supports motor cortex 'excitability' as cause of restless legs syndrome

Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say new experiments using magnetic pulse brain stimulation on people with moderate to severe restless legs syndrome have added to evidence that the condition is due to excitability and hyperarousal in the part of the brain's motor cortex responsible for leg movement.

29 Aug 2018

Researchers create candidate drugs with potential to curb smoking

Washington State University researchers have created more than a dozen candidate drugs with the potential to curb smokers' desire for nicotine by slowing how it is broken down in the body. The researchers hope the substances can help people reduce their consumption of tobacco, if not quit altogether.

28 Aug 2018

Finding ways to improve cell replacement therapy for Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disease that affects dopamine signaling neurons in patients' brains. Cell-replacement therapy shows some promise as a treatment for Parkinson's. A recent paper in the journal Molecular & Cellular Proteomics reports a technical advance in selecting cells to use in this therapy.

24 Aug 2018

Study shows link between thinning of the retina and early sign of Parkinson's disease

The eyes may be a window to the brain for people with early Parkinson's disease. People with the disease gradually lose brain cells that produce dopamine, a substance that helps control movement.

16 Aug 2018

Study: Children who enter adolescence with weak cognitive control are at risk for trouble in adulthood

Children who struggle with weak cognitive control at an early age are at most risk for trouble in adulthood following their engagement in risk-taking activities in adolescence, according to new research.

10 Aug 2018

Scientists are one step closer to understanding autistic disorders

Autism spectrum disorders are a heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental disorders, one of the main characteristics of which is impaired social communication.

10 Aug 2018

Study: Exercise can help prevent relapses into cocaine addiction

Exercise can help prevent relapses into cocaine addiction, according to new research led by the University at Buffalo's Panayotis (Peter) Thanos, PhD.

9 Aug 2018

Social environment influences individuality of mice

Individuality is not exclusive to humans. Though this idea was previously rebutted by biologists, today it is accepted that individuality is found in all animal species. It is defined as all the behavior differences between individuals of a single species that are relatively stable over time.

6 Aug 2018

New nuclear medicine test could improve care of patients with type 1 diabetes

Researchers have discovered a new nuclear medicine test that could improve care of patients with type 1 diabetes. The new positron emission tomography imaging method could measure beta-cell mass, which would greatly enhance the ability to monitor and guide diabetes therapies.

3 Aug 2018

Brain scan can help select the right Parkinson’s patients for clinical trials

From today forward, researchers and drug companies have a new tool in the search for better treatments for Parkinson’s – a brain scan that can be used to select the right people for clinical trials.

27 Jul 2018

Bile acids from the gut may offer new treatment for cocaine abuse

Bile acids that aid fat digestion are also found to reduce the rewarding properties of cocaine use, according to a study publishing on July 26 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by India Reddy, Nicholas Smith, and Robb Flynn of Vanderbilt University, Aurelio Galli of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues.

27 Jul 2018

Qualification of first Parkinson's biomarker represents major milestone in clinical trials

The biomarker is used to determine the presence of dopamine transport deficiency in the brain, and has been qualified as an enrichment biomarker for clinical trials targeting early stages of Parkinson's, soon after diagnosis

27 Jul 2018

Brain's response to taste stimuli could play role in driving anorexia nervosa

Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have found that the brain's response to taste stimuli is linked to high anxiety and a drive for thinness that could play a role in driving anorexia nervosa.

27 Jul 2018

New sensor detects early-stage Parkinson's disease from the breath of patients

Symptoms of Parkinson's disease include tremor, loss of smell and neuropsychiatric problems. However, many people aren't diagnosed until their disease is well-advanced, which could limit their treatment options.

26 Jul 2018

Parkinson's therapies being developed may benefit everybody with the disease

A gene linked to 3 to 4 percent of people with Parkinson's disease could play an important role in most, if not all, people with the disease, according to new study findings from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC.

26 Jul 2018

Pivotal study of dasotraline in adults with binge eating disorder meets primary endpoint

Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc. today announced that a study evaluating the efficacy and safety of dasotraline in adults with moderate to severe binge eating disorder met its primary endpoint, demonstrating a statistically significant decrease in number of binge days per week from baseline to Week 12 in the group treated with dasotraline 6 mg/day versus the placebo-treated group.

25 Jul 2018