Dopamine is a hormone and neurotransmitter occurring in a wide variety of animals, including both vertebrates and invertebrates. In the brain, this phenethylamine functions as a neurotransmitter, activating the five types of dopamine receptors — D1, D2, D3, D4 and D5, and their variants. Dopamine is produced in several areas of the brain, including the substantia nigra and the ventral tegmental area. Dopamine is also a neurohormone released by the hypothalamus. Its main function as a hormone is to inhibit the release of prolactin from the anterior lobe of the pituitary. Dopamine has many functions in the brain, including important roles in behavior and cognition, motor activity, motivation and reward, inhibition of prolactin production (involved in lactation), sleep, mood, attention, and learning. Dopaminergic neurons (i.e., neurons whose primary neurotransmitter is dopamine) are present chiefly in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the midbrain, substantia nigra pars compacta, and arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus.
Scientists usually use animal models when studying Parkinson's disease because these models mimic the disease well.
Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC neuroscientist Read Montague is heading to Braitenberg 100 at Germany's Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, joining the researchers who helped build modern computational neuroscience.
Researchers at the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) in Brazil have discovered a new strategy that may protect neurons and other brain cells involved in Parkinson's disease in the future.
Becoming a mother changes the brain not just temporarily, but for life.
Scientists from Tokyo Metropolitan University have revealed key parts of the biochemical pathways connecting stress to sexual dysfunction.
Researchers from the University of Bonn and University Hospital Bonn uncover vital mechanism for survival.
Tirzepatide alters brain reward signaling and reduces alcohol intake in rodents, indicating its potential as a therapeutic option for alcohol use disorder.
Imagine balancing a ruler upright in the palm of the hand: There is a need to continually pay attention to the angle of the ruler and make several little changes to ensure it does not topple over.
Why do we sometimes keep eating even when we're full and other times turn down food completely? Why do we crave salty things at certain times, and sweets at other times?
Dopamine in the brain influences movement, learning, motivation and sleep. In humans, problems with dopamine are linked to conditions like Parkinson's disease, depression and sleep disorders.
Closely related subtypes of dopamine-releasing neurons may play entirely separate roles in processing sensory information, depending on their physical structure.
A new finding from researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center shows that the learning process of associating cues with rewards can be altered by increased or decreased activity of a specific protein in the brain.
Dopamine brings on a surge of pleasure, but too much dopamine in a synapse can ultimately lead to mood disorders and addiction.
Our brain's reward system processes and reinforces pleasurable experiences, motivating us to seek out and engage in rewarding activities ranging from eating to social interactions to recreational drug use.
Certain brain cells are responsible for coordinating smooth, controlled movements of the body. But when those cells are constantly overactivated for weeks on end, they degenerate and ultimately die.
GBA1 mutations impair ciliary Hedgehog signaling in Parkinson's disease, reducing neuroprotective factors and highlighting a shared pathogenic pathway.
This research highlights the role of exons in mental illnesses, offering new perspectives on genetic factors that influence psychiatric disorder development.
The hypothalamus is a small but critical region at the base of the brain that controls the autonomic nervous system, regulates body temperature, signals hunger and thirst, exerts hormonal control over the pituitary gland, helps set circadian rhythms, influences sexual behavior and reproduction, and plays a role in instinctive behaviors like fear, aggression, and maternal bonding.
To uncover what drives sexual behavior in animals, researchers studied the brain activity of male mice throughout the series of actions involved in sex leading up to ejaculation.
Zhang, J., et al. (2025) Small-diameter artery grafts engineered from pluripotent stem cells maintain 100% patency in an allogeneic rhesus macaque model. Cell Reports Medicine. doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2025.102002.
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