dopamine

Dopamine is an important neurotransmitter. One of the primary “pleasure chemicals” in the brain, dopamine is found in areas of the brain linked to experiences of joy and reward. In addition, dopamine pathways play a role in carrying signals related to attention, movement, problem solving, and pleasure. Brain chemistry blogs that discuss dopamine and other neurochemicals include BrainBlogger and Neurotopia.

The dopamine-rich nucleus accumbens is a significant site of action for addictive drugs. Chronic exposure to cocaine in lab rats produces a characteristic supersensitivity of the dopamine receptors found there. Evidence of abnormally low levels of dopamine is found in patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease, a finding that led researchers to an effective treatment for that disorder. Conversely, scientists learned that too much dopamine was at the heart of addiction to stimulants like amphetamine and cocaine.

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Latest blogosphere posts tagged “dopamine”

• The Mysteries of Pair Bonding (Part II)

  
  Blogs — Authority: 159
  In Part I , we looked at the neurochemical reality that lies behind our instincts to fall in (and out of) love. We saw that our ancestors may have been pair bonders for a very long time, implying that pair bonding serves important ends for our species. We observed that the same bonding behaviors  that ...
  1 hour ago

• Alternative Treatment for Depression: Learning How Herbs Can Aid in Treating Depression Naturally

  
  Wish Everyone Good Health. — Authority: 465
  If you are like many of the 20.9 million adults in the U.S. who are suffering from depression, you have probably debated the pros and cons of taking prescription antidepressants. While depression can often be combated with therapy alone, some professionals do recommend medication for certain cases. The right type and ...
  5 days ago

• Addiction Inbox: The Black Market for Seroquel

  
  PharmaGossip — Authority: 517
  Speed freaks, coke heads, and antipsychotics. Last week, writing on the Daily Beast web site, reporter Jeff Deeney profiled a startling underground market for the antipsychotic medication Seroquel (quetiapine). Deeney described street transactions in North Philadelphia for Quells or Suzie-Qs, as the drug is ...
  1 week ago

• The Black Market for Seroquel

  
  Addiction Inbox — Authority: 415
  Speed freaks, coke heads, and antipsychotics. Last week, writing on the Daily Beast web site, reporter Jeff Deeney profiled a startling underground market for the antipsychotic medication Seroquel (quetiapine). Deeney described street transactions in North Philadelphia for Quells or Suzie-Qs, as the drug is ...
  1 week ago

• Rethinking Dopamine

  
  John Goodman's Health Policy Blog — Authority: 565
  From The New York Times : In the communal imagination, dopamine is about rewards, and feeling good, and wanting to feel good again, and if you don’t watch out, you’ll be hooked, a slave to the pleasure lines cruising through your brain. Hey, why do you think they call it dopamine?
  1 week ago

• ADHD Medications: Neurotransmitters to the Rescue

  
  CorePsych Blog — Authority: 106
  Neurotransmitter physiology takes us way beyond what we have been doing for years with only stimulant medications. Neurotransmitters will take us further down the line to that holy grail of ADHD treatments: the Natural Way.
  1 week ago

• This is Your Brain on Tea

  
  Kitsune's Thoughts — Authority: 124
  The calming effect of green tea may seem contradictory to the stimulatory property of tea’s caffeine content but it can be explained by the action of L-theanine. This amino acid actually acts antagonistically against the stimulatory effects of caffeine on the nervous system. (1) Research on human volunteers has ...
  1 week ago

• Addicted to Love

  
  Healthy and Green Living — Authority: 612
  It has happened to most of us at least once.You can’t stop thinking about him — or her. You dance until dawn in each other’s arms. You can’t sleep and you can’t get down more than a couple of spoonfuls of dinner.You’re in love. And yes, it’s in your head. Literally.So say a growing number [...]
  1 week ago

• Can a Neurotransmitter Imbalance be Causing Your Mood Problems?

  
  Wish Everyone Good Health. — Authority: 465
  Neurotransmitters are powerful chemicals that regulate numerous physical and emotional processes such as cognitive and mental performance, emotional states and pain response. Virtually all functions in life are controlled by neurotransmitters.Interactions between neurotransmitters, hormones, and the brain chemicals ...
  1 week ago

• Dreams and Depression: Was Sigmund Freud Correct?

  
  Wish Everyone Good Health. — Authority: 465
  Sigmund Freud was one of the most influential people of the 20th century. He claimed that depression and anxiety are influenced by factors that affect us in childhood, and that interpreting dreams can lead us to the childhood causes. He felt that psychotherapy could make emotionally sick people heathy by getting them ...
  1 week ago

• Photo

  
  Daily Cow — Authority: 503
  [IMG: http://13.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ks85h2o5Yc1qz71aso1_400.gif]
  1 week ago

• How does Parkinsons drug Cabergoline work?

  
  Family: News and advice on family matters children and parents — Authority: 975
  Cabergoline relieves symptoms of Parkinsons Disease including shaking stiffness and loss of muscle control.
  2 weeks ago

• Depression and Fibromyalgia

  
  Wish Everyone Good Health. — Authority: 465
  What Is Fibromyalgia Depression And Why Do You Experience It?Clinical depression such as that which often accompanies Fibromyalgia Syndrome is more than just a passing feeling of sadness, it is often accompanied with prolonged feelings of severe chronic fatigue, hopelessness, loss of appetite, loss of interest in ...
  2 weeks ago

• Three Major Factors Causing Depression And Easy Steps To Avoid Them !

  
  Wish Everyone Good Health. — Authority: 465
  Although depression is a very common, oft-mentioned disorder, we really need to take a look at what causes depression in the first place.The factors that contribute to depression are well-known, and well-researched, however what causes it is not yet fully understood.Recent studies have helped uncover some of the ...
  2 weeks ago

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  NYT > Theater — Authority: 915
  
  2 weeks ago

• Dopamine mediated ’sign’ based learning

  
  The Mouse Trap — Authority: 121
  There is an interesting must watch Video of Paul Phillips discussing dopamine based learning and I have embedded the video below. Please do have a look. Original video with some other relevant information can be found here . Paul discusses the dopamine surge at the Unconditioned Stimulus/reward (US) before the ...
  2 weeks ago

• Social Reward Systems; Or: Why Twitter Lists Are Good For You (And Twitter)

  
  Dan Patterson; Politics, Culture, and Emerging Technology — Authority: 110
  This is not a tech blog and we dont really care about social media.  But we do care about people and information.  And you might also have a Twitter  account.  If you dont already, you probably will soon.   This post poses a few theories about social reward systems and the upcoming Twitter Lists feature. ...
  2 weeks ago

• Artificial Memories Wired Into Fly’s Brain

  
  Impact Lab — Authority: 539
  As part of a project to understand how the brain learns, biologists have written memories into the cells of a fruitfly’s brain, making it think it had a terrible experience. The memory trace was written by shining light into the fly’s brain and activating a special class of cells involved in learning how to avoid ...
  2 weeks ago

• Brain Imaging of Early Stage Parkinson’s

  
  Psych Central News — Authority: 562
  A research team from the University of Illinois at Chicago plans to use cutting-edge technology to study early-stage Parkinson’s disease. They hope that tests using functional and high-resolution structural brain imaging will reveal new clues about early Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease is a ...
  2 weeks ago

• Fine-tuning treatments for depression

  
  Shrink Rap — Authority: 434
  New research clarifies how neurotransmitters like norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine, are regulated – a finding that may help fine-tune therapies for depression.Current drugs for depression target the regulatory process for neurotransmitters, and while effective in some cases, do not appear to work in other ...
  3 weeks ago

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