Latest Dopamine transporter Stories
Using brain imaging and chocolate milkshakes, U.S. scientists say people with weakened brain "reward circuitry" are at increased risk of weight gain. Researchers at the University of Oregon's Lewis Center for Neuroimaging say food intake is associated with dopamine release, while pleasure from eating correlates with the amount of dopamine release. Studies suggest the obese have fewer dopamine receptors in the brain and have to eat more than lean people to be satisfied. One study involved 43...
A study by a Florida criminologist suggests the old adage "birds of a feather flock together" has a ring of truth when it comes to teenage boys. Kevin M. Beaver of Florida State University said a study of family, peer and DNA data from 1,816 boys in middle and high school shows boys with a certain type of variation of the dopamine transporter gene, or DAT1, are more likely to flock to delinquent peers. "This research is groundbreaking because it shows that the propensity in some adolescents...
Researchers at the University of North Carolina reported Monday that genes may play a role in young men who grow up in tough neighborhoods or with disadvantaged families and later become violent criminals. The scientists have identified three genes they believe play a role. One, called MAOA, played a particularly strong role, and had been shown in previous research to affect antisocial behavior. The researchers called the gene "disturbingly common".Sociology professor Guang Guo, who led the...
Depression is one of the most common forms of psychopathology. According to diathesis stress theories of depression, genetic liability interacts with negative life experiences to cause depression. Traditionally, most studies testing these theories have focused on only one component of the diathesis stress model: either genetics or environment, but not their interaction. However, because of recent advances in genetics and genomics, researchers have begun using a new design that allows them...
BOSTON - Researchers from Harvard Medical School have found a molecule that is unexpectedly involved in dopamine signaling, and in a manner that supports the potential of dopamine as an alternative target for treating depression. The results provide evidence that there is a molecular link between impaired dopamine signaling and depression, which affects 16 percent of the adult population in the United States. The research appears in the July 29 issue of Cell. Li-Huei Tsai, Harvard Medical...
