Dopamine News and Research

Latest Dopamine News and Research

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

Promising approach to stem cell therapy for treating Parkinson's disease

A major factor underlying Parkinson's Disease pathology is the loss of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra, and thus current therapies often aim to restore dopamine signaling. However, these treatments are not curative.

24 Jul 2018

FAU researchers find possible cause of Parkinson’s disease in the patients’ immune system

Parkinson's disease, formerly also referred to as shaking palsy, is one of the most frequent disorders affecting movement and the nervous system.

19 Jul 2018

Hunger hormones could be key to new treatments for drug, alcohol addiction

Hormones that signal the body's state of hunger and fullness could be the key to new treatments for drug and alcohol addiction.

17 Jul 2018

Researchers uncover gene that plays role in cocaine addiction

Cocaine can have a devastating effect on people. It directly stimulates the brain's reward center, and, more importantly, induces long-term changes to the reward circuitry that are responsible for addictive behaviors.

12 Jul 2018

Sodium nitroprusside treatment prevents schizophrenia symptoms in animal model

Researchers at the Federal University of São Paulo in Brazil have tested a treatment with sodium nitroprusside in a strain of rats that spontaneously develop some of the symptoms associated with schizophrenia.

12 Jul 2018

Study finds disrupted stress response in people with schizophrenia

Stressful situations affect the brain and body differently in people with schizophrenia compared to people without the mental illness or individuals at high risk for developing psychosis, a new CAMH study shows.

11 Jul 2018

Researchers question previous understanding of Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease was first described by a British doctor more than 200 years ago. The exact causes of this neurodegenerative disease are still unknown.

6 Jul 2018

Study: Mice that lack certain brain receptor get attracted to situations associated with discomfort

The brains of both humans and other animals have circuits that connect powerful impressions from the senses to positive or negative feelings - a function that is necessary for survival.

3 Jul 2018

Compulsively checking social media could be hurting our brain

You know that warm feeling you get when you see lots of likes from a Facebook or Instagram post? That's the reward system of your brain lighting up like fireflies on a dark summer night.

30 Jun 2018

Suicide at higher altitudes unlikely to be caused by hypoxia

Following an extensive analysis of published studies, researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have found that while suicide rates are higher at higher altitudes, they are unlikely caused by hypoxia, (low oxygen) at these elevations.

27 Jun 2018

Study details role of dopamine in unlearning fear

Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Brain Science have discovered a circuit in the brain that is necessary for unlearning fear. Published in Nature Communications, the study details the role of dopamine in ensuring that rats stop being afraid when there isn't anything to be afraid of anymore.

27 Jun 2018

Impulse control disorders found to be more common in people taking Parkinson's drugs

Over time, half of the people taking certain drugs for Parkinson's disease may develop impulse control disorders such as compulsive gambling, shopping or eating, according to a study published in the June 20, 2018, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

20 Jun 2018

Unusual gene provides novel insight into how the brain wires itself

The study of a Quebec family with an unusual gene provides novel insight into how our brain is built and, according to the McGill led team of scientists, offers a better understanding of psychiatric disorders such as depression, addictions, and schizophrenia.

19 Jun 2018