Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, a type of chemical that sends signals between nerves in the body. A dopamine deficiency may have links to several medical conditions, including depression, Parkinson’s disease, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Dopamine plays a part in controlling the movements a person makes, as well as their emotional responses. The right...
NETHERLANDS INSTITUTE FOR NEUROSCIENCE – KNAW IMAGE: PAVLOVIAN VERSUS OPERANT CONDITIONING EXPERIMENT CREDIT: NETHERLANDS INSTITUTE FOR NEUROSCIENCE A new study from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience brings together two schools of thought on the function of the neurotransmitter dopamine: one saying that dopamine provides a learning signal, the other saying that dopamine drives motivation. ‘But...
by Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience White noise (WN) is an aversive stimulus that lowers dopamine concentration in the nucleus accumbens core (NAC). (A) Left: example trajectory of a rat in the real-time place aversion test (30 min), in which entry into one quadrant (shaded), which was randomly determined prior to the session, led to 90...
by Ingrid Fadelli , Medical Xpress Microscopic image of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) used for the current experiment. The black lines are the stimulation electrodes that were used to evoke synaptic responses, while the white lines show the placement of the recording electrode that monitored the activity of the neurons. Image credit: Soroush Darvish-Ghane....
by Bob Yirka, Medical Xpress Credit: CC0 Public Domain A team of researchers with members from the University of California, San Francisco, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, also in San Francisco, has found that a certain part of the brain releases dopamine in response to hydration. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the group...
UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN – THE FACULTY OF HEALTH AND MEDICAL SCIENCES “The textbooks probably have to be rewritten now.” Professor Claus Juul Løland from the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Copenhagen feels quite certain. A team of researchers headed by Claus Juul Løland has just published a study in the esteemed journal Nature Communications. The...
by Bob Yirka, Medical Xpress NE and 5HT levels in BLA start to decrease before NREM to REM sleep transition. Levels of NA and 5HT in the BLA showed a completely different pattern from that of DA. They were decreased during NREM sleep and started to further decrease just shortly prior to transition to REM...
by University of Bergen Left: Two views of the 3D structure of TH, with the atomic model generated inside, where the yellow stars point to two of the active centers of TH. Right: The same two views of the 3D structure in the presence of dopamine, which regulate TH by inhibiting activity via the introduction...
For patients with Parkinson disease on levodopa therapy, patient-rated quality of life is similar for those receiving adjuvant therapy with dopamine agonists compared with dopamine reuptake inhibitors (DRIs); and among DRIs, monoamine oxidase type B (MAO-B) inhibitors are preferable to catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitors, according to a study published online Dec. 28 in JAMA Neurology. Richard Gray,...
Summary: The placebo effect combined with dopamine levels can determine whether symptoms of depression and social anxiety will improve in patients prescribed SSRI antidepressants. Researchers found the positive effect of the medications was four times higher in patients with high expectations the treatment would work compared to those with lower expectations. Source: Uppsala University Levels of dopamine...
