Latest

dopamine

This shows a weighing scale and tape measure

·April 5, 2021·4 min read

Unwanted Weight Gain or Weight Loss During the Pandemic? Blame Your Stress Hormones

A recent study found 42% of participants gained, on average, 29 lb of unwanted weight during the pandemic, with people gaining 1.5lb per month. Researchers say a combination of stress, hormones, and dwindling motivation to exercise during the lockdowns may be to blame.

This is a drawing of a mouse against a psychedelic background

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·April 1, 2021·5 min read

Mice With Hallucination-Like Behaviors Reveal Insight Into Psychotic Illness

Mouse study reveals elevated dopamine levels preceded hallucination-like events, and artificially boosting dopamine levels induced more hallucination-like events. The behavioral effects could be blocked by administering haloperidol, an antipsychotic which blocks dopamine. The study sheds light on potential new treatments for psychotic disorders marked by hallucinations.

Electrophysiology Featured Genetics Neuroscience Psychology

·March 27, 2021·7 min read

Gene Changes Linked to Severe Repetitive Behaviors

Study identifies genes that become activated in the brain prior to the initiation of severe repetitive behaviors associated with addiction, ASD, and schizophrenia.

Featured Genetics Neurology Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·March 23, 2021·4 min read

Parkinson’s Gene May Impair How New Neurons Are Made Throughout Our Lifetime

PINK1, a gene associated with Parkinson's disease, is not just responsible for the premature death of dopaminergic neurons, it also plays a key role in the neurogenesis of dopamine neurons throughout life.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·March 20, 2021·3 min read

Shifting Rewards Are Encoded Using Special Neuronal Patterns

Dopamine neurons in the midbrain become active in a previously undetected way when an animal considers a reward that is changing in value.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience Pain

·March 18, 2021·4 min read

Parsing Dopamine’s Different Pain Sensitivity Role in Males and Females

Focusing attention on a neural pathway starting at the periaqueductal grey region of the midbrain, researchers made a novel discovery about how dopamine generates different pain responses in male and female mice. Findings indicate dopamine may reduce pain sensitivity in males, whereas, in females, dopamine helps focus attention elsewhere in the presence of pain.

This shows the brain with the VTA highlighted

Featured Neuroscience

·March 15, 2021·5 min read

How the Brain Learns From Subconscious Stimuli

When the ventral tegmental area was stimulated, monkeys were better able to identify details associated with subconscious visual stimuli they were exposed to.

This shows a stressed looking young woman

Featured Genetics Neuroscience Psychology

·March 15, 2021·5 min read

Epigenetic Mechanism Contributing to Lifelong Stress Susceptibility Discovered

Early life stress induces epigenetic modifications in D2-type medium spiny neurons in the nucleus accumbens, increasing the susceptibility to stress in adulthood.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·March 4, 2021·5 min read

Smoking Cessation Drug May Treat Parkinson’s in Women

A smoking cessation drug called cytisine may be a helpful new tool for the treatment of Parkinson's disease in women. Cytisine was found to reduce the loss of dopamine neurons. The effect was more pronounced when estrogen was present.

This shows a model of a head and a brain

Featured Genetics Neurology Neuroscience

·March 1, 2021·6 min read

Individualized Brain Cell Grafts Reverse Parkinson’s Symptoms

Grafting neurons derived from a monkey's own stem cells reversed the debilitating and mental health symptoms associated with Parkinson's disease. The treatment shows promise for alleviating the symptoms of Parkinson's in humans.

This shows a woman and a bottle of scotch

Featured Genetics Neuroscience Psychology

·February 20, 2021·4 min read

Circadian Rhythm Genes in Key Brain Region Are Involved in Binge Drinking

The circadian CLOCK gene in the nucleus accumbens shell plays a crucial role in binge drinking behaviors in mouse models.

This is a painting of the outline of a woman's head

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·February 16, 2021·5 min read

Dopamine Is Key to the Mystery of Metabolic Dysfunction in Psychiatric Patients

Anti-psychotic drugs do not only block dopamine signaling in the brain, they also block dopamine signaling in the pancreas. Blocking dopamine signaling in the pancreas leads to uncontrolled production of blood-glucose regulating hormones, increasing obesity and diabetes risks.

1 … 18 19 20 21 22 … 64