dopamine tagged posts

Dopamine, serotonin involved in sub-second perception, cognition...

A new study finds that the pleasure center of the brain and the brain’s biological clock are linked, and that high-calorie foods – which bring pleasure – disrupt normal feeding schedules, resulting in overconsumption.

During the years 1976 through 1980, 15% of U.S. adults were obese. Today, about 40% of adults are obese. Another 33% are overweight.

Coinciding with this increase in weight are ever-rising rates of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and health complications caused by obesity, such as hypertension...

A four-millimeter-long larvae of zebrafish with visible nerve cells under the microscope. Credit: Research group Driever

The type and intensity of stimuli control the activity of nerve cells that release the neurotransmitter dopamine, report scientists. In their study of fish larvae, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Driever and his team of neurobiologists at the University of Freiburg have discovered that a group of nerve cells in the forebrain release the dopamine when activated by tactile or certain visual stimuli. These dopaminergic nerve cells send connections to almost all parts of the brain and spinal cord, thereby affecting the functions of many circuits...

The source of alcohol craving may be a pea-sized structure deep inside the right side of the brain. The brain scans showed that the beer flavor induced more activity in both frontal lobes and in the right ventral striatum of the subjects’ brains than did the sports drink. Credit: B. Oberlin and D. Kareken, Indiana University School of Medicine

If you really want a drink right now, the source of your craving may be a pea-sized structure deep inside the right side of your brain, according to scientists at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Using PET and fMRI, the researchers compared the results of giving beer drinkers a taste of their favorite beer versus a sports drink...