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What is Dopamine?

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that helps control the brain's reward and pleasure centers. Dopamine also helps regulate movement and emotional responses, and it enables us not only to see rewards, but to take action to move toward them. Dopamine deficiency results in Parkinson's Disease, and people with low dopamine activity may be more prone to addiction. The presence of a certain kind of dopamine receptor is also associated with sensation-seeking.

Dopamine - Parkinson's Disease (Bio 113, new window) is a progressive brain disease with no known cure and, for the most part, no known cause. It strikes an area deep in the middle of the brain called the substantia nigra, or “black matter.” There are approximately 400,000 cells in that area, which produces the brain chemical dopamine and affects the part of the brain that controls movement. Those cells degenerate, and when you’ve lost 60 percent or more of them, dopamine production drops and you see the first symptoms of Parkinson’s: tremors on one side of the body, stiffness, slowness of movement and problems with balance.

Dopamine receptor over sensitivity also may cause the body to decrease the amount of dopamine being produced. Too much dopamine in the limbic system and not enough in the cortex may produce a personality given to bouts of paranoia or inhibit social interaction. A shortage of dopamine in the frontal lobe can contribute to poor working memory. Dopamine also contributes to the feelings of bliss and regulates feeling of pain in the body.

Schizophrenia and Psychosis

According to the "British Journal of Nursing," increased dopamine in the limbic system is linked to suspicious personality, paranoia and withdrawal from social situations. Drugs, such as amphetamines and cocaine, cause buildup of dopamine, which leads to drug-induced psychosis or schizophrenia. In Parkinson's disease, dopamine-containing cells in the substantia nigra degenerate and die out. Parkinson's disease patients who are treated with too much L-dopa, a precursor of dopamine, may experience psychosis similar to psychosis seen in schizophrenia.

Too much dopamine can lead to negative effects such as anxiety, restlessness, aggressiveness and mania, whilst not enough dopamine can potentially be responsible for lethargy, lack of motivation and depression.

 

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