What Does Dopamine Actually Do?

In the article “Dopamine and Teenage Logic” by Daniel Siegel he states that “Dopamine is a neurotransmitter central in creating our drive for reward” (Source B). This indicates that dopamine is one of the key causes of risk-taking. Teens often take risks because they are focused on the reward they get after they take it, rather than what would actually happen to them during and after they take the risk. There are two significant ways that dopamine affects our brains; increased impulsiveness, and the susceptibility to addiction by the release of dopamine.

The next part the dopamine reward system jumps to is the basal ganglia, which within the basal ganglia is the dorsal striatum. The dorsal striatum’s job is to receive

The major support and refutation of the dopamine hypothesis has come from the examination of dopamine receptors in these regions of the brain. There are two main types of dopamine receptors, D1 and D2. However, within the category of D2 receptors, there are three subtypes, D2, D3, and D4. (5) Through PET scan analysis of dopamine usage in the brain and post-mordum molecular analysis of brain tissue, researcher were able to determine relative levels of dopamine receptors in patients with schizophrenia compared to non-schizophrenics. Overall analysis of dopamine

The primary function of the nucleus accumbens in the brain is to be act as somewhat of a "reward circuit". Actions that are registered in our brains as a rewards include activities such as taking drugs, having sex, making money or eating food (Hall). Because of this message sent to our brains that are saying we have been rewards, dopamine and other neurons are triggered. According to Psychologytoday.com, “Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that helps control the brain's reward and pleasure centers. [It] helps regulate movement and emotional responses, and it enables us not only to see rewards, but to take action to move toward them” (Psychologytoday.com). In other words, dopamine is another type of neurotransmitter that releases a “feel good” sensation in our bodies when we do something that brings us pleasure. This dopamine and other neurons have the ability to move themselves closer to the nucleus accumbens. After their arrival, they activate themselves and this activation results in the rise dopamine levels.

This research paper is a compilation of information gathered during lectures and through the web on the Nervous System and the Reward Pathway. This paper examines the structure of these systems, their discovery and the effects that drugs have on influencing these systems and how addictions are formed.

Of the six most common neurotransmitters, dopamine is probably the one people know the most about. Dopamine is involved in controlling the reward and pleasure system in the brain. It allows us to recognize rewards and helps give us the ability to go after them. Learning, behavior, and cognition are also affected by dopamine levels. As with anything, if you have an imbalance, then bad things can happen. Parkinson’s disease can be caused by low dopamine amounts. People who have low dopamine levels can be addicted to substances easier.

Dopamine is commonly known as “The Reward Molecule.” It resides in the central nervous system and influences movement, learning, attention, and emotion. More specifically, dopamine is responsible for reward-driven behavior and pleasure seeking. “Every type of reward seeking behavior that has been

It is dopamine that is involved in the pleasure centers of the brain where motivation, reward, the experience of pleasure, and motor function take place. Methamphetamine’s ability to release dopamine rapidly in reward regions of the brain produces the euphoric “rush” or “flash” that many users experience. Repeated methamphetamine use can easily lead to addiction—a chronic, relapsing disease characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use.

Some dopaminergic (i.e., dopamine-releasing) neurons run from the substantia nigra to the corpus striatum; their loss gives rise to the clinical manifestations of Parkinson's Disease (Korczyn 1994); others, involved in the rewarding effects of drugs and natural stimuli, run from the mesencephalon to the nucleunucleus accumbens.

However recent research shows that the process is more complicated. Dopamine is not only related to pleasure but also to learning and memory, key components in going from liking a substance to becoming addicted to it. According to this theory it is believed that dopamine combines with another neurotransmitter, glutamate, to take over the brain’s system of reward related learning. This system plays an important role in sustaining life by linking such activities as eating and sex with pleasure and reward.

Dopamine (DA) for many years has been understood to be a key neurotransmitter governing the reward response in regards to drug addiction. Dopamine is a catecholamine neurotransmitter which is known to act on five know types of receptors ranging from D1-D5, and is produced is multiple locations of the brain with DA release from the midbrain having a central role in reward and drug dependence (Kim, Inoue et al. 2007) . It has been found that DA levels rapidly change after substance abuse, in which levels of DA are up regulated after administration of a large array of drugs, including that of cocaine, which leads to eventual blunting of the DA levels after prolonged use and onset of the cocaine addiction. A study performed by Martinez and Narendran (2007) had found that individuals who were cocaine dependent had marked reductions in the D2 and D3 receptors binding sites available, with individuals who had more blunted receptors have a positive correlation in selecting a cocaine of a higher dosage. Within the same study it was also found that when subjects were offered a voucher of five dollars or cocaine with a street level less than five dollars, individuals with greater levels of dopamine deficits would still select the cocaine. Findings show the relationship and importance of dopamine and control of maladaptive behaviors related to addiction and inability to change behavior despite understanding

A chemical of the brain known by most people as the "feel good hormone" or "reward chemical" is dopamine. It is a primary neurotransmitter associated with serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins. A great amount of information on dopamine has been studied by researchers, yet there is still so much to learn. This paper will discuss the function, location, and diseases accredited to dopamine.

Over the years, experiments have produced evidence to suggest that dopamine plays a role in the development of Schizophrenia (Howes, McCutcheon, & Stone, 2015). Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is produced in the substantia nigra and ventral tegmental regions of the brain. The belief that dopamine was involved in Schizophrenia arose after multiple studies performed with compounds produced an increase in extracellular concentrations of dopamine (Lieberman, Kane, & Alvir, 1987). The patients that were administered these compounds had similar symptoms to those observed from patients who were diagnosed with Schizophrenia (Lieberman et al., 1987).

In the figure above, the proposed mechanism of dopamine (DA) as a placebo mediator is illustrated. After a placebo has been provided to a patient, DA neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) are activated, which leads to the release of DA in the ventral striatum (nucleus accumbens, NAcc) and in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Consequently, the PFC activates disease-specific mechanisms, such as opioids for placebo analgesia, dopamine for motor improvement in patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease, and perhaps serotonin (5-HT), which relieves depressive symptoms.

The discovery of physiological functions of 3-hydroxytyramine (dopamine), a metabolite of the amino acid tyrosine, more than 50 years ago (Carlsson et al., 1957) resulted in enormous amount of interest and discussion about this catecholaminergic neurotransmitter. These Dopaminergic neurons are critically involved in numerous vital central nervous system functions, including voluntary movement, feeding, reward, sleep, attention, working memory, and learning (Beaulieu et al., 2011). The involvement of dopamine in various critical functions, its of no surprise that dopaminergic dysfunction is associated in variety of human disorder particularly CNS related disorders like Schizophrenia, Parkinson’s Disease, Huntington’s Disease and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) etc. Targeting these receptors using specific agonists and antagonists provides an opportunity to significantly influence dopaminergic transmission and dopamine-dependent functions by enhancing or blocking the actions of dopamine.