Latest Dopamine Stories

Using a miniature electronic device implanted in the brain, scientists have tapped into the internal reward system of mice, prodding neurons to release dopamine, a chemical associated with pleasure. The researchers, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, developed tiny devices, containing light emitting diodes (LEDs) the size of individual neurons. The devices activate brain cells with light. The scientists report their...

The gene variants weaken the same receptors that some hallucinogenic drugs block New genetic factors predisposing to schizophrenia have been uncovered in five families with several affected relatives. The psychiatric disorder can disrupt thinking, feeling, and acting, and blur the border between reality and imagination. Dr. Debby W. Tsuang, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and Dr. Marshall S. Horwitz, professor of pathology, both at the University of Washington in...

Alan McStravick for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online An international collaborative study, conducted by researchers at both KU Leuven and the Harvard Medical School, has attempted to recreate Ivan Pavlov’s famous experiment, but with a twist. Pavlov, you may know, was famous for conducting a study where a stimulus was introduced and the reward for that stimulus was slowly removed, with the aim of observing whether or not a physiological response would continue to be registered...

BALTIMORE, March 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Cerecor Inc, a neuroscience biotech company that develops therapies that have the potential to make a difference in diseases with high unmet medical needs, today announced that it has acquired exclusive, worldwide rights to develop, register and commercialize agents that inhibit catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitors ("COMT inhibitors"), previously discovered and owned by Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada. (Logo:...

-- Clinical Entry Planned for Second Half of 2013 -- SEATTLE, March 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Omeros Corporation (NASDAQ: OMER) today announced that it has elucidated the mechanism of action of its phosphodiesterase 7 (PDE7) inhibitors in the neural network shown to be responsible for addiction in humans. Omeros believes that it is the first to discover the link between PDE7 and any addiction or compulsive disorder, and the Company is establishing a broad intellectual property...

SAN DIEGO, March 14, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Three studies released today present possible positive news for people with Parkinson's disease. The studies, which will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 65th Annual Meeting in San Diego, March 16 to 23, 2013, report on treatments for blood pressure problems, the wearing-off that can occur when people have taken the main drug for Parkinson's for a long time, and for people early in the disease whose symptoms are...

In a new study in Neuron, scientists identified specific key steps in the chain of events that causes stress-related drug relapse. They identified the exact region of the brain where the events take place in rat models and showed that by blocking a step, they could prevent stress-related relapse. All too often, stress turns addiction recovery into relapse, but years of basic brain research have provided scientists with insight that might allow them develop a medicine to help. A new study...

NESS ZIONA, Israel, March 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- NeuroDerm [http://www.neuroderm.com ], Ltd. announced today the results of a Phase I safety and pharmacokinetic trial of ND0612, a novel drug formulation for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. ND0612 is a proprietary levodopa/carbidopa liquid formula administered continuously sub-cutaneously through a patch pump. It is designed to provide steady levodopa blood levels for the reduction of motor complications in Parkinson's...

-- $53 million matched, positioning Foundation for continued impact; opportunity and need persist in challenged research funding environment -- NEW YORK, Feb. 27, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF) announced that with the help of the Parkinson's community, it has completed and surpassed the $50-million Brin Wojcicki Challenge. Longtime Foundation supporters Sergey Brin and Anne Wojcicki have matched more than $53 million in...

KALAMAZOO, Mich., Feb. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Metabolic Solutions Development Company, LLC (MSDC) announced today that it has received an award from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF) to conduct preclinical research on a first-in-class mTOT Modulator, MSDC-0160, as a potential treatment for levodopa induced dyskinesia (LID). The study will be undertaken in collaboration with Patrik Brundin, MD, PhD, of Van Andel Institute (VAI). The aim of the study,...