News tagged with dopamine
Alcohol helps the brain remember, says new study
Drinking alcohol primes certain areas of our brain to learn and remember better, says a new study from the Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research at The University of Texas at Austin.
Neuroscience
Apr 12, 2011 |
4.7 / 5 (15) |
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Dopamine not about pleasure (anymore)
(Medical Xpress)—To John Salamone, professor of psychology and longtime researcher of the brain chemical dopamine, scientific research can be very slow-moving.
Neuroscience
Dec 03, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (14) |
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Differences in dopamine may determine how hard people work
Whether someone is a "go-getter" or a "slacker" may depend on individual differences in the brain chemical dopamine, according to new research in the May 2 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. The findings suggest that d ...
Medical research
May 01, 2012 |
4.4 / 5 (13) |
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Brain parasite directly alters brain chemistry
A research group from the University of Leeds has shown that infection by the brain parasite Toxoplasma gondii, found in 10-20 per cent of the UK's population, directly affects the production of dopamine, a key chemical messen ...
Medical research
Nov 04, 2011 |
5 / 5 (11) |
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Scientists afflict computers with schizophrenia to better understand the human brain
Computer networks that can't forget fast enough can show symptoms of a kind of virtual schizophrenia, giving researchers further clues to the inner workings of schizophrenic brains, researchers at The University of Texas ...
Psychology & Psychiatry
May 05, 2011 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
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Brain training increases dopamine release
It is known that training can improve working memory. In a new study in Science, researchers from Karolinska Institutet, Umeå University, Åbo Akademi University, and the University of Turku show for the first time t ...
Psychology & Psychiatry
Aug 05, 2011 |
4.9 / 5 (7) |
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Everyday clairvoyance: How your brain makes near-future predictions
Every day we make thousands of tiny predictions — when the bus will arrive, who is knocking on the door, whether the dropped glass will break. Now, in one of the first studies of its kind, researchers at Washington University ...
Neuroscience
Aug 17, 2011 |
4.1 / 5 (8) |
17
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Dopamine release in human brain tracked at microsecond timescale reveals decision-making
A research team led by investigators at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute has demonstrated the first rapid measurements of dopamine release in a human brain and provided preliminary evidence that the neurotransmitter ...
Neuroscience
Oct 28, 2011 |
4.4 / 5 (7) |
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Scientists identify neurotranmitters that lead to forgetting
While we often think of memory as a way of preserving the essential idea of who we are, little thought is given to the importance of forgetting to our wellbeing, whether what we forget belongs in the "horrible memories department" ...
Neuroscience
May 09, 2012 |
4.7 / 5 (6) |
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Study shines light on brain mechanism that controls reward enjoyment
What characterizes many people with depression, schizophrenia and some other mental illnesses is anhedonia: an inability to gain pleasure from normally pleasurable experiences.
Neuroscience
Mar 21, 2012 |
4.3 / 5 (6) |
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Parkinson's disease: Study of live human neurons reveals the disease's genetic origins
Parkinson's disease researchers at the University at Buffalo have discovered how mutations in the parkin gene cause the disease, which afflicts at least 500,000 Americans and for which there is no cure.
Parkinson's & Movement disorders
Feb 07, 2012 |
5 / 5 (5) |
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Morphine and cocaine affect reward sensation differently
(Medical Xpress)—A new study by scientists in the US has found that the opiate morphine and the stimulant cocaine act on the reward centers in the brain in different ways, contradicting previous theories ...
Medical research
Oct 05, 2012 |
5 / 5 (5) |
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Mouse research links adolescent stress and severe adult mental illness
Working with mice, Johns Hopkins researchers have established a link between elevated levels of a stress hormone in adolescence—a critical time for brain development—and genetic changes that, in young adulthood, cause ...
Neuroscience
Jan 17, 2013 |
5 / 5 (5) |
3
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Restless legs syndrome, insomnia and brain chemistry: A tangled mystery solved?
Johns Hopkins researchers believe they may have discovered an explanation for the sleepless nights associated with restless legs syndrome (RLS), a symptom that persists even when the disruptive, overwhelming nocturnal urge ...
Neuroscience
May 07, 2013 |
4.4 / 5 (5) |
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Neurochemical evidence that long-lasting love is possible
(Medical Xpress) -- We all remember that feeling of intense emotions as a new love and romance begins. Despite the ongoing debate that intense love fades through the years, there are still many couples who ...
Neuroscience
May 11, 2011 |
4.2 / 5 (5) |
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Dopamine
Dopamine is a 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 can be supplied as a medication that acts on the sympathetic nervous system, producing effects such as increased heart rate and blood pressure. However, because dopamine cannot cross the blood-brain barrier, dopamine given as a drug does not directly affect the central nervous system. To increase the amount of dopamine in the brains of patients with diseases such as Parkinson's disease and dopa-responsive dystonia, L-DOPA (levodopa), which is the precursor of dopamine, can be given because it can cross the blood-brain barrier.
For more information about Dopamine, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
