Dopamine

Leave it to science to take all the fun out of something as cosmically pure as love. Theories about love's purpose range from the biologically practical to the biologically complicated. Anthropologists have said it helps ensure reproduction of the species; attachment theorists maintain it's a byproduct of our relationship with our childhood caregivers. And now researchers are exploring what happens physiologically as a romantic relationship progresses. The more we understand it, they say, the better our chances of making love last and of harnessing its potential to improve our emotional and physical well-being.

To the food lovers who can't deny themselves an extra cookie (or 10): The problem may begin in your brain, where, scientists say, chemical surges affect your response to food, much in the way an addict responds to alcohol or drugs. The possibility of food addiction has existed for some time. A new Yale study gives it a boost. In that research, scientists watched the brain activity of women tantalized, and then rewarded, with a chocolate milkshake. Their neural activity was similar to that of drug addicts, scientists said, as brain imaging showed activity surging in regions that govern cravings and falling off in those centers that curb urges.

To the food lovers who can't deny themselves an extra cookie (or 10): The problem may begin in your brain, where, scientists say, chemical surges affect your response to food, much in the way an addict responds to alcohol or drugs. The possibility of food addiction has existed for some time. A new Yale study gives it a boost. In that research, scientists watched the brain activity of women tantalized, and then rewarded, with a chocolate milkshake. Their neural activity was similar to that of drug addicts, scientists said, as brain imaging showed activity surging in regions that govern cravings and falling off in those centers that curb urges.

You know that feeling you get when you listen to a favorite part of a favorite song?  Some scientists have a refreshingly unscientific word for it: They call it the "chills. " In the lab they can measure the chills, which correspond with a specific pattern of brain arousal and often are accompanied by increases in heart and breathing rates and other physical responses.   Now neurologists report that this human response to music -- which has existed for thousands of years, across cultures around the world -- involves dopamine, the same chemical in the brain that is associated with the intense pleasure people get from more tangible rewards such as food or addictive drugs.

You know that feeling you get when you listen to a favorite part of a favorite song?  Some scientists have a refreshingly unscientific word for it: They call it the "chills. " In the lab they can measure the chills, which correspond with a specific pattern of brain arousal and often are accompanied by increases in heart and breathing rates and other physical responses.   Now neurologists report that this human response to music -- which has existed for thousands of years, across cultures around the world -- involves dopamine, the same chemical in the brain that is associated with the intense pleasure people get from more tangible rewards such as food or addictive drugs.

Sabrina LLOYD won hearts last season on the NBC series "Ed" as Frankie, the spunky colleague and love interest of Ed (Tom Cavanaugh), even if she ultimately didn't capture Ed's heart. Lloyd, 32, who displayed a gift for fast-paced banter on "Ed" and the critical-darling sitcom "Sports Night," is happy to be showing off a more serious (and slower-talking) side in the independent romance "Dopamine," a feature film in limited release as part of the Sundance Film Series. The New York-based, jovial, petite (5 feet, 4 inches)

Attention deficit-hyperactive disorder includes difficulty with mental focus. People describe it as daydreaming or mind-wandering instead of concentrating on the task at hand. Now researchers think they have identified a gene that is responsible for this specific characteristic of the disorder. People who inherit two copies of a particular form of the gene called DAT1 10 are thought to be at greater risk for developing ADHD than people who inherit another form, called DAT1 9. Researchers found that among people with two copies of DAT1 10 (which the scientists term 10/10 carriers)

Researchers have created a strain of mice that lack a key component of a brain communication system--a step that could shed light on drug addiction, Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia. The mice will help researchers understand brain cell circuits that communicate with a chemical messenger called dopamine. In these circuits, one brain cell signals another by releasing bits of dopamine. Then it retrieves the dopamine with a structure called a dopamine transporter, which terminates the signal.

New York researchers reported in the journal Nature that they had demonstrated how cocaine gets people "high" and predicted that their tests could help develop better drugs to treat addicts. Tests on mice have shown that cocaine acts on dopamine, a neurotransmitter that carries signals between brain cells and is important to movement and motivation. Higher levels of dopamine create feelings of euphoria.

Oregon neuroscientists have duplicated a key component of the brain's chemical system thought to play a critical role in a number of major illnesses involving the brain, which they say represents a major step forward in research on the causes and treatment of schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease and drug addiction.

Attention deficit-hyperactive disorder includes difficulty with mental focus. People describe it as daydreaming or mind-wandering instead of concentrating on the task at hand. Now researchers think they have identified a gene that is responsible for this specific characteristic of the disorder. People who inherit two copies of a particular form of the gene called DAT1 10 are thought to be at greater risk for developing ADHD than people who inherit another form, called DAT1 9. Researchers found that among people with two copies of DAT1 10 (which the scientists term 10/10 carriers)

Leave it to science to take all the fun out of something as cosmically pure as love. Theories about love's purpose range from the biologically practical to the biologically complicated. Anthropologists have said it helps ensure reproduction of the species; attachment theorists maintain it's a byproduct of our relationship with our childhood caregivers. And now researchers are exploring what happens physiologically as a romantic relationship progresses. The more we understand it, they say, the better our chances of making love last and of harnessing its potential to improve our emotional and physical well-being.

Researchers have learned that rats overwhelmingly prefer water sweetened with saccharin to cocaine, a finding that demonstrates the addictive potential of sweets. Offering larger doses of cocaine did not alter the rats' preference for saccharin, according to the report. Scientists said the study, presented this week in San Diego at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, might help explain the rise in human obesity, which has been driven in part by an overconsumption of sugary foods.

Laboratory monkeys that started out as careless procrastinators became super-efficient workers after injections into their brains that suppressed a gene linked to their ability to anticipate a reward. The monkeys, which had been taught a computer game that rewarded them with drops of water and juice, lost their slacker ways and worked faster while making fewer errors.

Sabrina LLOYD won hearts last season on the NBC series "Ed" as Frankie, the spunky colleague and love interest of Ed (Tom Cavanaugh), even if she ultimately didn't capture Ed's heart. Lloyd, 32, who displayed a gift for fast-paced banter on "Ed" and the critical-darling sitcom "Sports Night," is happy to be showing off a more serious (and slower-talking) side in the independent romance "Dopamine," a feature film in limited release as part of the Sundance Film Series. The New York-based, jovial, petite (5 feet, 4 inches)

A variation on the indie slacker dramas of the '90s, "Dopamine" manages to rise above the navel-gazing of that genre with well-developed characters and strong performances, particularly by the leads, John Livingston and Sabrina Lloyd. Written by Mark Decena and Timothy Breitbach and directed by Decena, the movie overcomes some forced artiness to be a sweet, smart romance without being saccharine.

For the second time in two weeks, scientists reported cloning a gene of a brain communication system that may shed light on treating schizophrenia and other brain disorders. The gene tells brain cells how to make a dopamine receptor, a structure that the cells use to receive a chemical messenger called dopamine from other brain cells. The newly cloned gene is for a type of dopamine receptor called D3, French researchers reported last week in Nature.

There may be good reason why wallflowers stay clear of a crowd and prefer quiet jobs, say scientists who have found a possible link between shyness and levels of a key brain chemical. The research, by scientists at Stanford University, is among a growing body of studies searching for chemical reasons to explain various personality traits.

Patients in clinical studies often feel relief even when they're given placebos--pills that don't contain medications. The cause, doctors think, is the power of the mind to influence the body. But the nature of the mind-body link is unclear. Now scientists at the University of British Columbia have an explanation for why such a strong "placebo effect" occurs in patients with the neurological condition known as Parkinson's disease.

The rush of placing a bet is remarkably similar to the high from snorting cocaine or the buzz from drinking Scotch. Scientists and addiction specialists say that is no coincidence. Compulsive gambling stimulates the same "pleasure pathways" in the brain that respond to drugs and alcohol, says Dr. David Comings, who has conducted pioneering research on the subject at the City of Hope Medical Center in Duarte.