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dopamine

·May 14, 2025·6 min read

New Insights Into Why Stress Is So Hard to Treat

A new review reveals key differences in how stress hormone systems function in primate versus rodent brains, offering insight into why treatments for stress-related disorders often fail in humans. Researchers found that corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) interacts with dopamine circuits in more complex and widespread ways in primates, with dopamine neurons often releasing multiple neurotransmitters.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·May 13, 2025·4 min read

Social Status Shapes Addiction Risk Through Dopamine Circuitry

A new study reveals how social rank influences addiction vulnerability by altering dopamine pathways in the brain. Low-ranking male mice showed stronger reward signals and weaker control circuits, making them more prone to seek methamphetamine, while high-ranking mice had better balance and resistance.

This shows brains and the outlines of people.

Neuroscience

·May 12, 2025·3 min read

Histamine Alters Dopamine Differently in Male and Female Brains

Sex differences in neurological disorders like Tourette syndrome, schizophrenia, and ADHD may stem from how histamine affects dopamine in the brain. A new mouse study reveals that histamine decreases dopamine in males but increases it in females, with the female response influenced by the estrous cycle.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·May 7, 2025·5 min read

Dopamine’s Hidden Role in Anxiety Revealed

Dopamine receptors in the ventral hippocampus play a critical role in balancing approach and avoidance behaviors, expanding understanding beyond dopamine’s known functions in reward and motivation. By studying D1 and D2 receptor-expressing neurons in mice, researchers found these receptors govern opposing emotional responses under stress.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·April 28, 2025·8 min read

Dopamine Signals Teach the Brain to Unlearn Fear

A new study reveals that dopamine release along a specific brain circuit helps extinguish fear by activating reward-related neurons in the amygdala. Researchers showed that dopamine from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) drives the brain’s positive learning process during fear extinction, rather than simply suppressing fear.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·April 28, 2025·6 min read

Cannabis Use Disorder Linked to Psychosis Brain Changes

New research shows that individuals with cannabis use disorder have elevated dopamine levels in brain regions associated with psychosis. Using neuromelanin-sensitive MRI scans, scientists found increased dopamine activity, visible as darker brain spots, in cannabis users regardless of schizophrenia diagnosis.

Featured Neuroscience

·April 22, 2025·6 min read

Your Brain Learns From Fear, Thanks to Dopamine

New research reveals how dopamine helps the brain learn to avoid unpleasant outcomes by responding differently in distinct brain regions during negative experiences. In a study with mice, scientists tracked dopamine activity over time as animals learned to escape an adverse event, showing that one brain area adapted early in learning while another supported long-term avoidance behavior.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·April 18, 2025·5 min read

Potential Depression Risk Linked to Ozempic-Like Drugs

A new international study reveals a possible connection between GLP1 receptor agonists—used in drugs like Ozempic—and increased risk of depression and suicidal ideation, especially in people with low dopamine function. Researchers used advanced pharmacogenomic tools to identify genetic pathways that may be vulnerable to dopamine dysregulation when exposed to these medications.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·April 9, 2025·5 min read

Elevated Dopamine in Cannabis Users May Explain Psychosis Risk

New research reveals that people with cannabis use disorder (CUD) have elevated dopamine levels in a brain region associated with psychosis, such as schizophrenia. This may help explain why frequent cannabis use can increase the risk of hallucinations and delusions.

Featured Neuroscience

·March 29, 2025·3 min read

Dopamine Circuit in Brain Found to Drive Male Ejaculation

New research uncovers how dopamine in the ventral shell of the nucleus accumbens (vsNAc) governs the sexual behavior sequence in male mice, from sniffing to ejaculation. Using fiber photometry, scientists identified rhythmic dopamine activity during intromission that aligns with movement patterns and is regulated by acetylcholine inputs.

Featured Neuroscience

·March 28, 2025·4 min read

Dopamine Surge Boosts Brain’s Ability to Adapt

For the first time, researchers have directly observed dopamine release in the human brain during moments of cognitive flexibility. Using PET imaging, they found that dopamine levels spike in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex when people switch between tasks — and the more dopamine released, the more efficiently they adapted.