Examples of dopamine in the following topics:
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- Dopamine is the best-known neurotransmitter of the catecholamine group.
- The brain includes several distinct dopamine systems, one of which plays a major role in reward-motivated behavior.
- Most types of reward increase the level of dopamine in the brain, and a variety of addictive drugs increase dopamine neuronal activity.
- Other brain dopamine systems are involved in motor control and in controlling the release of several other important hormones.
- On the other hand, when an excess of the neurotransmitter dopamine blocks glutamate receptors, disorders like schizophrenia can occur.
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- Biogenic amines include the catecholamines, such as dopamine, norepinephrine (NE), and epinephrine, as well as indolamines such as serotonin and histamine.
- Dopamine and NE are synthesized from amino acid tyrosine.
- NE, dopamine, and histamine can be excitatory or inhibitory depending on the receptor type.
- Addictive drugs such as cocaine and amphetamine exert their effects primarily on the dopamine system, while addictive opiates and functional analogs of opioid peptides which regulate dopamine levels.
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- The dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia is a model used by scientists to explain many schizophrenic symptoms.
- The model claims that a high fluctuation of levels of dopamine can be responsible for schizophrenic symptoms.
- The dopamine hypothesis has helped progress the development of antipsychotics, which are drugs that stabilize positive symptoms by blocking dopamine receptors.
- The fact that these medications have been shown to treat psychosis supports the dopamine theory.
- Dopamine is not the only neurotransmitter associated with schizophrenia, although it can be argued that it is the most studied.
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- Some stimulants facilitate the activity of certain neurotransmitters, specifically norepinephrine and/or dopamine.
- Over time, stimulants can disrupt the functioning of the brain's dopamine system, dampening users' ability to feel any pleasure at all.
- MDMA differs from most stimulants in that its primary pharmacological effect is on the neurotransmitter serotonin rather than dopamine, epinephrine, or norepinephrine.
- MDMA also decreases the release of dopamine.
- Norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitors (NDRIs) (such as the antidepressant Wellbutrin) inhibit the uptake of dopamine and norepinephrine, effectively increasing their amounts in the brain and causing a stimulating effect.
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- Treatment for the disease usually requires anti-psychotic medications that work by blocking dopamine receptors and decreasing dopamine neurotransmission in the brain.
- This decrease in dopamine can cause Parkinson's disease-like symptoms in some patients.
- For example, dopamine may also be decreased in depressed patients, or it may actually be an increase in norepinephrine and serotonin that causes the disease, and antidepressants force a feedback loop that decreases this release.
- For example, monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAO inhibitors) block the enzyme that degrades many neurotransmitters (including dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine), resulting in increased neurotransmitter in the synaptic cleft.
- Other types of drugs, such as norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitors and norepinephrine-serotonin reuptake inhibitors, are also used to treat depression.
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- While drive-reduction theory focuses primarily on biological needs as motivators, arousal theory examines the influence of the neural transmitter dopamine as a motivator in the body.
- Reward sensitivity is located in the mesolimbic dopamine system.
- For example, substance use is associated with overactivity in the dopamine system; depending on how strongly an individual's brain interprets that as a "reward," they may be more or less motivated to continue using that substance.
- This study provided evidence that animals are motivated to perform behaviors that stimulate dopamine release in the reward center of the brain.
- Dopamine pathways in the brain play an important role in the regulation of reward, which, in turn, motivates behavior.
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- Emotions can be influenced by hormones and neurotransmitters, such as dopamine and seratonin.
- Dopamine can affect a person's energy level and mood, while seratonin can affect critical-thinking skills.
- An active lifestyle has been shown to produce an increased level of dopamine, which can enhance energy and mood.
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- It is the hormone and neurotransmitter most responsible for vigilant concentration in contrast to its most-chemically-similar hormone, dopamine, which is most responsible for cognitive alertness.
- Norepinephrine is synthesized from dopamine by dopamine β-hydroxylase in the secretory granules of the medullary chromaffin cells and is released from the adrenal medulla into the blood as a hormone.
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- Parkinson's disease causes the loss of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra, a midbrain structure that regulates movement.
- One of the most-commonly prescribed drugs for Parkinson's is L-DOPA, which is a chemical that is converted into dopamine by neurons in the brain.
- This conversion increases the overall level of dopamine neurotransmission and can help compensate for the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra.
- Other drugs work by inhibiting the enzyme that breaks down dopamine.
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- The frontal lobe contains most of the dopamine-sensitive neurons in the cerebral cortex.
- The dopamine system is associated with reward, attention, short-term memory tasks, planning, and motivation.
- Dopamine tends to limit and select sensory information that the thalamus sends to the forebrain.
- A report from the National Institute of Mental Health indicates that a gene variant that reduces dopamine activity in the prefrontal cortex is related to poorer performance in that region during memory tasks; this gene variant is also related to slightly increased risk for schizophrenia.