Dopamine is a hormone and neurotransmitter occurring in a wide variety of animals, including both vertebrates and invertebrates. In the brain, this phenethylamine functions as a neurotransmitter, activating the five types of dopamine receptors — D1, D2, D3, D4 and D5, and their variants. Dopamine is produced in several areas of the brain, including the substantia nigra and the ventral tegmental area. Dopamine is also a neurohormone released by the hypothalamus. Its main function as a hormone is to inhibit the release of prolactin from the anterior lobe of the pituitary. Dopamine has many functions in the brain, including important roles in behavior and cognition, motor activity, motivation and reward, inhibition of prolactin production (involved in lactation), sleep, mood, attention, and learning. Dopaminergic neurons (i.e., neurons whose primary neurotransmitter is dopamine) are present chiefly in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the midbrain, substantia nigra pars compacta, and arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus.
The hypothalamus is a small but critical region at the base of the brain that controls the autonomic nervous system, regulates body temperature, signals hunger and thirst, exerts hormonal control over the pituitary gland, helps set circadian rhythms, influences sexual behavior and reproduction, and plays a role in instinctive behaviors like fear, aggression, and maternal bonding.
To uncover what drives sexual behavior in animals, researchers studied the brain activity of male mice throughout the series of actions involved in sex leading up to ejaculation.
Zhang, J., et al. (2025) Small-diameter artery grafts engineered from pluripotent stem cells maintain 100% patency in an allogeneic rhesus macaque model. Cell Reports Medicine. doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2025.102002.
This study uncovers a specialized circuit in the striatum that encodes reward variance, offering new perspectives on learning and neurological disorders.
Every day, our brain makes thousands of decisions, big and small. Any of these decisions - from the least consequential such as picking a restaurant to the more important such as pursuing a different career or moving to a new city - may result in better or worse outcomes.
Researchers led by Zhentao Zhang at Wuhan University, China have discovered a cholesterol metabolite that plays a critical role in the development of Parkinson's disease in mice.
A collaborative effort between Mount Sinai and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has shed valuable light on how monoamine neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, and now histamine help regulate brain physiology and behavior through chemical bonding of these monoamines to histone proteins, the core DNA-packaging proteins of our cells.
Researchers have discovered a new connection between Parkinson’s disease development and the immune system.
If you've heard of two of the brain's chemical neurotransmitters, it's probably dopamine and serotonin. Never mind that glutamate and GABA do most of the work -; it's the thrill of dopamine as the "pleasure chemical" and serotonin as tender mood-stabilizer that attract all the headlines.
A preclinical investigation conducted by Weill Cornell Medicine researchers has shown an unexpectedly important role for an enzyme called PGK1 in the synthesis of chemical energy in brain cells.
A deep-learning-based contrastive approach to examine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans from Parkinson’s disease patients.
The neurodegenerative condition known as Parkinson's disease is caused by the death of neurons that generate dopamine, a neurotransmitter essential for both motor control and cognitive function.
Researchers discussed using deep generative AI models and their diverse algorithms in de novo drug design.
A bacterial enzyme called histidine kinase is a promising target for new classes of antibiotics. However, it has been difficult to develop drugs that target this enzyme, because it is a "hydrophobic" protein that loses its structure once removed from its normal location in the cell membrane.
Scientists have discovered genetic clues to the cause of restless leg syndrome, a condition common among older adults.
Amphetamine is a psychostimulant that has been used to treat a variety of brain dysfunctions. However, it is a highly abused drug.
Taking pro- and prebiotics could make people more sensitive to fairness, even at the cost of earning less money, according to a study.
According to a study published in the journal Nature, gut bacteria and a diet high in the amino acid tryptophan can protect against pathogenic E. coli, which can cause severe upset stomach, cramps, fever, intestinal bleeding, and renal failure.
Researchers from McGill University, led by Professor Alanna Watt of the Department of Biology, have identified previously unknown changes in brain cells affected by a neurological disease.
A new study provides deeper insights into how the brain learns and adapts through trial and error, whether a scientist or a pup.
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