Dopamine News and Research

Latest Dopamine News and Research

Neuroprotective effects of lithium are likely related to gene expressions

Lithium, as a neuroprotective agent, benefits for neuronal survival. Recent cDNA array studies have demonstrated that mood stabilizer lithium exhibits neuroprotective effects through multiple targets.

9 Jul 2014

Cinnamon can be used to halt disease progression in Parkinson's patients

Neurological scientists at Rush University Medical Center have found that using cinnamon, a common food spice and flavoring material, can reverse the biomechanical, cellular and anatomical changes that occur in the brains of mice with Parkinson's disease (PD).

9 Jul 2014

Researchers identify genetic mutation that may cause parkinsonism in young people

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen and the Copenhagen University Hospital have identified a particular genetic mutation that may cause parkinsonism in young people. The mutation interferes with the brain's transport of the important signal substance dopamine and may also plays a role in mental diseases, e.g. ADHD.

3 Jul 2014

Study details brain mechanisms involved with addictive substances

The National Institutes of Health has turned to neuroscientists at the nation's most "Stone Cold Sober" university for help finding ways to treat drug and alcohol addiction.

1 Jul 2014

Scientists one step closer to understanding the causes of Parkinson's disease

Scientists have taken a step closer to understanding the causes of Parkinson's disease, identifying what's happening at a cellular level to potentially help develop future treatments.

27 Jun 2014

DBS improves motor and non motor symptoms of patients with early Parkinson's disease

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has become a well-recognized non-pharmacologic treatment that improves motor symptoms of patients with early and advanced Parkinson's disease.

26 Jun 2014

Scientists use femtosecond lasers to tackle Parkinson's disease

Scientists are combining physics and neurobiology to tackle Parkinson's disease. The Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University's Femtosecond Spectroscopy Unit and Neurobiology Research Unit, along with collaborators at the University of Otago, New Zealand are using lasers, nanotechnology and neuroscience to develop a new, versatile drug delivery system.

26 Jun 2014

Brain iron levels offer potential biomarker in the diagnosis of ADHD

Brain iron levels offer a potential biomarker in the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and may help physicians and parents make better informed treatment decisions, according to new research published online in the journal Radiology.

18 Jun 2014

Failing dopamine pump damages brain cells of patients with Parkinson's disease

A study group at the Medical University of Vienna's Centre for Brain Research has investigated the function of an intracellular dopamine pump in Parkinson's patients compared to a healthy test group.

18 Jun 2014

Increase in protein helps store dopamine and protects from Parkinson's disease

Researchers from Emory's Rollins School of Public Health discovered that an increase in the protein that helps store dopamine, a critical brain chemical, led to enhanced dopamine neurotransmission and protection from a Parkinson's disease-related neurotoxin in mice.

18 Jun 2014

Combination of effective drugs for Parkinson's disease controls symptoms of Rett syndrome in mice

IDIBELL researchers, led by the director of the Program for Epigenetics and Cancer Biology, ICREA researcher and Professor of Genetics at the University of Barcelona, Manel Esteller, have shown that a combination of effective drugs for Parkinson's disease in mice that are used as a model of human Rett syndrome reduces some of the symptoms associated with this disease.

17 Jun 2014

PD MED trial: Levodopa drug better for long-term treatment of newly diagnosed PD

For long-term treatment of newly diagnosed Parkinson’s disease (PD), the old drug levodopa provides better mobility and a higher quality of life than the two main alternatives, dopamine agonists (DA) and monoamine oxidase type B inhibitors (MAOBI), according to the largest-ever trial of PD treatment (PD MED), published in The Lancet.

13 Jun 2014

REM sleep disorder: A sign of impending neurodegenerative disease

How many millions of people suffer from sleep disturbance? One sleep disorder in particular, called REM behavior disorder, could be a sign of impending neurodegenerative disease, including Parkinson's and dementia, say scientists presenting their research at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting.

10 Jun 2014

Brain circuit problem may contribute to auditory hallucinations of schizophrenia

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have identified problems in a connection between brain structures that may predispose individuals to hearing the "voices" that are a common symptom of schizophrenia. The work appears in the June 6 issue of the journal Science.

6 Jun 2014

Dopamine transporter availability predicts ICDs

Reduced striatal dopamine transporter availability is already present in patients with Parkinson’s disease who go on to develop impulse control disorders, a study shows.

5 Jun 2014

Newron Pharmaceuticals submits safinamide NDA to FDA

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., an international pharmaceutical company strongly committed to the CNS therapeutic area with a long experience in respiratory disease therapies, woman care and primary care, announce that the New Drug Application (NDA) for safinamide was submitted today to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

30 May 2014

Stimulation of brain region causes behavioral changes

Artificially stimulating a brain region believed to play a key role in learning, reward and motivation induced monkeys to change which of two images they choose to look at.

30 May 2014

New research program to understand and treat debilitating psychiatric disorders

Scientists and physicians at UC San Francisco (UCSF) are leading a $26 million, multi-institutional research program in which they will employ advanced technology to characterize human brain networks and better understand and treat a range of common, debilitating psychiatric disorders, focusing first on anxiety disorders and major depression.

28 May 2014

Mice with 'mohawk hairstyles' reveal clues to development of autism

"Aha" moments are rare in medical research, scientists say. As rare, they add, as finding mice with Mohawk-like hairstyles.

26 May 2014

New study provides evidence that bacteria in gut may be linked to children with autism

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have significantly different concentrations of certain bacterial-produced chemicals, called metabolites, in their feces compared to children without ASD.

20 May 2014