Futurity.org » dopamine

Mutant worms may tag Parkinson’s drugs

Daniel Oppenheimer-U. Texas — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 16:35:39 +0000

U. TEXAS-AUSTIN (US) — Dopamine-deficient worms with a motor switching problem may help identify drugs that will benefit people with Parkinson’s disease.

Researchers have devised a simple test, based on the difficulty that “parkinsonian” C. elegans worms have in switching from swimming to crawling when they’re taken out of water.

Hyper hippocampus fuels schizophrenia?

Karen Hoffmann-Pittsburgh — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 20:22:12 +0000

U. PITTSBURGH (US) — New research may help explain how antipsychotic drugs manage the classic symptoms of schizophrenia, which in turn could help pinpoint what’s causing the disease.

Antipsychotic drugs work akin to a Rube Goldberg machine, say researchers at the University of Pittsburgh. The drugs suppress something that in turn suppresses the bad effects of schizophrenia, but not the exact cause itself.

Brain signals say ‘yes’ to sugar cravings

Jared Wadley-Michigan — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 15:02:34 +0000

U. MICHIGAN (US) — For the brain, “wanting” and “liking” are separate processes. When the two converge—in pursuit of sweets—the combined effect is powerful.

These amplified signals can trigger an intense desire to satisfy a sweet tooth, a new University of Michigan study shows. Findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

If you give a computer schizophrenia…

Daniel Oppenheimer-U. Texas — Fri, 06 May 2011 17:46:04 +0000

U. TEXAS-AUSTIN / YALE (US) — Researchers were able to elicit schizophrenia-like symptoms in a virtual computer network, mimicking the excessive release of dopamine in the human brain.

The work, reported in the journal Biological Psychiatry, gives researchers more clues to the inner workings of schizophrenic brains.

Brain gets high on all-nighters

Yasmin Anwar-UC Berkeley — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 15:22:43 +0000

UC BERKELEY (US) — Pulling an all-nighter gives the brain a big boost of pleasure, but that euphoria can lead to poor judgment and risky behavior, a new study shows.

“When functioning correctly, the brain finds the sweet spot on the mood spectrum. But the sleep-deprived brain will swing to both extremes, neither of which is optimal for making wise decisions,” says Matthew Walker, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley and lead author of the study.

Another piece to Parkinson’s puzzle

Dan Kuester-Iowa State — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 23:01:00 +0000

IOWA STATE (US) — There’s hope that a newly discovered protein pathway could lead to a much clearer understanding of Parkinson’s disease.

Anumantha Kanthasamy, a professor of biomedical sciences and chair of neurotoxicology at Iowa State University, has been working to understand the complex mechanisms of the disease for more than a decade. He believes this recent discovery offers hope for a cure.

Ritalin abates iron deficiency’s harm

A'ndrea Elyse Messer-Penn State — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 16:00:11 +0000

PENN STATE (US) — Giving low doses of Ritalin to iron deficient adolescent rats appears to improve brain function, a finding that may have implications for iron-deficient human infants as well.

Higher doses proved to hurt rather than help the control animals’ focus, making them hyperactive. Control rats that were not iron deficient but received low doses of Ritalin showed no positive or negative change in performance.

Putting the brakes on impulsive behavior

Jennifer Johnston-Vanderbilt — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 14:07:43 +0000

VANDERBILT (US)—Why some people are more susceptible to rash behavior and act without thinking is related to a specific deficit in the way the brain regulates dopamine signaling, according to new research.

The findings are important because impulsive personality traits are strongly associated with attention deficit/hyperactivity and antisocial personality disorders, and impulsivity is a key risk factor for developing substance abuse.

Impaired insulin signaling links food to mood

David Salisbury-VU — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:15:56 +0000

VANDERBILT (US)—Defects in insulin action—which occur in diabetes and obesity—could directly contribute to psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia.

Scientists have found a molecular link between impaired insulin signaling in the brain and schizophrenia-like behaviors in mice.

For teens, taking risks comes naturally

Tim Green-U. Texas — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 19:01:24 +0000

U. TEXAS-AUSTIN (US)—Biology may be to blame when it comes to adolescents making stereotypically poor decisions and engaging in risky behavior.

“Risky behaviors, such as experimenting with drugs or having unsafe sex, are actually driven by over activity in the mesolimbic dopamine system, a system which appears to be the final pathway to all addictions in the adolescent brain,” says Russell Poldrack, professor of psychology and neurobiology at University of Texas, Austin.