Dopamine

2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29

Dopamine is an extremely important neurotransmitter for the brain. It is classified as catecholamine - a group of substances that perform the functions of hormones and neurotransmitters; it is also a precursor of norepinephrine and adrenaline.

Dopamine is responsible for a number of important functions in the human body, and fluctuations in its levels can cause serious diseases related to motility - neurological and mental.

For the first time dopamine was synthesized in 1910 by James Ewans and George Barger. Its function as a neurotransmitter was discovered only in 1958 by Arvid Carlson in Switzerland.

Functions of dopamine

Dopamine is a neurohormone that is released from the hypothalamus - a part of the brain that controls hunger and thirst, body temperature, fatigue, sleep and circadian rhythms. Its main function as a hormone is to inhibit the release of prolactin from the anterior pituitary gland. Prolactin is responsible for the secretion of milk in the mammary glands during breastfeeding.

Dopamine there are several receptors that are responsible for very different processes - cognitive activity, motivation, memory, pleasure, volitional movements. Involuntary movements are prevented by receptors and constant maintenance of dopamine activity in the basal ganglia. The basal ganglia are located under the cerebral cortex and are responsible for various motor and mental processes.

Dopamine is widely associated with that part of the brain that is responsible for the feeling of pleasure. Therefore, dopamine is released during sex, eating and even taking drugs.

It is with this mechanism that many addictions can be explained - to drugs, cigarettes, caffeine. In these cases, there is over-motivation - increased readiness to react.

Addiction is associated with increased sensitivity of D1 receptors in dopamine. Small and short-term fluctuations in dopamine activity are associated with important mental processes such as concentration and motivation. When dopamine activity is very low, a person is prone to depression.

Dopamine has an important cognitive ability. Dopamine in the frontal lobe of the brain controls the flow of information to the other lobes. Dopamine disorders in this area can impair functions such as memory, attention and problem-solving ability.

Benefits of dopamine

Dopamine can be used for treatment that affects the sympathetic nervous system - an important part of the nervous system, which is responsible for extremely important processes such as respiration, digestion and blood circulation. It is used in patients with Parkinson's syndrome and vegetative-vascular dystonia.

Changes in dopamine levels

Dopamine is extremely important for the body because in its role as a neurotransmitter involved in the regulation of various processes occurring in the central and peripheral nervous system. Low or high dopamine activity causes a number of diseases - mental and neurological, some of which are completely irreversible. Two of the most serious diseases that can occur are:

Parkinson's disease - a serious neurological disease characterized by difficulty moving or inability to move, tremors and the like.

Schizophrenia - a type of psychosis that occurs with a variety of symptoms. It is caused by too high dopamine activity and is treated with antipsychotic drugs.

On the other hand, neuroleptic or antipsychotic drugs that suppress dopamine activity have too many side effects with long-term use.

The most serious consequences include: movement disorder, dysfunction of the male and female gonads. Progesterone and estradiol levels decrease in women and testosterone levels in men.

Menstrual irregularities, loss of libido, impotence in men, weight gain, diabetes, osteoporosis in women, fatigue, heart rhythm problems and even heart attack, rheumatic disease with muscle pain (fibromyalgia) may occur. Experts say that people with lower dopamine levels suffer from excessive aggression.